by 


r 


K 


&orvilie  Libby,  Jr. 


SUNSET  PASS 


CAPT.    CIIAS.    KING 


Dorville  Libby,  Jr. 

Bmerican  Butbors*  Series,  mo.  1 1 

SUNSET  PASS 

Oil 

RUNNING   THE    GAUNTLET    THROUGH 
APACHE  LAND 


BY 

CAPTAIN   CHARLES   KING 

AUTHOR   OF 
'THE   DESERTER,"    "A    WAR-TIME  WOOING,   ETC 


NEW  YORK 
JOHN   W. LOVELL   COMPANY 

150  WORTH   ST.,  COR.  MISSION   PLACE 


COPYRIGHTED,  *I&)A,'  "  r      «  ' 


JOHN  W.  LOVELL  COMPANY 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


CAPT.  CHAS.  KING, Frontispiece 

HE  DREW  LITTLE  NELL  CLOSE  TO  HIM,        .        opp.  p.     14 
MANUELITO  WAS  SHUFFLING  ABOUT  THE  FIRE 

APPARENTLY  DOING  NOTHING,  .  .  opp.  p.  35 
"WHERE'S  MANUELITO?"  ....  opp.  p.  40 
His  FIRST  DUTY  SEEMED  TO  BE  TO  GET  THE 

PROVISIONS  FROM  THE  WAGON,       .        .        opp.  p.     44 
"JiM,  OLD  BOY,  WE'VE  GOT  TO  PULL  TO 
GETHER  TO-NIGHT,"          ....        opp.  p.     48 
"  MY  GOD!  THERE'S  NOT  A  LIVING  SOUL  IN 

SIGHT," opp.  p.     61 

BENDING    DOWN    HE  RAISED    HER  IN    His 

STRONG  ARMS,  .....        opp.  p.     77 

AWAY  HE  FLEW  AT  FULL  SPEED,         .        .        opp.  p.     90 
THE    Two    MEN  SET    TO    WORK    TO    BUILD 

THEIR  BREASTWORK,         ....         opp.  p.     98 
NELLIE,  CLINGING  TO  HER  NURSE,  WAS  TERRI 
FIED  BY  THE  SOUNDS,       ....        opp.  p.  106 
THE  POOR  DEVIL  WAS  NOW  SEATED,  BOUND 
AND  HELPLESS,  ON  A  ROCK  BY  THE  ROAD 
SIDE,  .         , opp.  p.   112 

"THAT'S  WHAT  JiM  TOOK  FOR  AN  APACHE,"  Opp.  p.    130 

ONE  VEHEMENT  KICK  AND  CURSE  HE  GAVE 

HIM, opp.  p.  142 

WITH  ONE  BACKWARD  LOOK  HE  STAGGERED 

WEARILY  ON,  ......  opp.  p.  154 

"MY  GOD !  WHAT  CAN  HAVE  HAPPENED?  IT'S 
CAPTAIN  G WYNNE?"  ....  opp.  p.  158 

EVIDENTLY  THE  ONE  WHO  WAS  SHOT  WAS  A 
MAN  OF  SOME  PROMINENCE  AMONG  THEM 
—  POSSIBLY  A  CHIEF,  ....  opp.  p.  168 

ALL  OF  A  SUDDEN  A  BLACK  SHADOW  RUSHED 

THROUGH   THE  AlR,  ....  Opp.   p.    180 

"  DowrN  WITH  THESE  STONES,  NowT !  "        .        opp.  p.  188 
THE  BULLET  OF  THE  LITTLE  BALLARD  HAD 

TAKEN  HIM  JUST  UNDER  THE  EYE,     .  .  Opp.  p.    190 


M24625 


SUNSET    PASS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

A    RASH    RESOLVE. 

"  BETTER  take  my  advice,  sir.  The  road 
ahead  is  thick  with  the  Patchies." 

"  But  you  have  come  through  all  alone, 
my  friend  ;  why  should  I  not  go  ?  I  have 
been  stationed  among  the  Apaches  for  the 
last  five  years  and  have  fought  them  all 
over  Arizona.  Surely  I  ought  to  know  how 
to  take  care  of  myself." 

"  I  don't  doubt  that,  captain.  It's  the 
kids  I'm  thinking  of.  The  renegades  from 
the  reservation  are  out  in  great  numbers 


6  SUNSET  PASS. 

now  and  they  are  supposed  to  be  all  down  in 
the  Tonto  Basin,  but  I've  seen  their  mocca 
sin  tracks  everywhere  from  the  Colorado 
Chiquito  across  the  '  Mogeyone,'  and  I'm 
hurrying  in  to  Verde  now  to  give  warning 
arid  turn  the;  troops  this  way." 
;  ;  "Well/  why  -didn't  they  attack  you,  then, 
'Al?r; 

The  party  thus  addressed  by  the  familiar 
diminutive  of  "  Al "  paused  a  moment  before 
reply,  an  odd  smile  flitting  about  his 
bearded  lips.  A  stronger,  firmer  type  of 
scout  and  frontiersman  than  Al  Sieber  never 
sat  in  saddle  in  all  Arizona  in  the  seventies, 
and  he  was  a  noted  character  among  the 
officers,  soldiers,  pioneers,  and  Apaches. 
The  former  respected  and  trusted  him. 
The  last  named  feared  him  as  they  did  the 
Indian  devil.  He  had  been  in  fight  after 
fight  with  them ;  had  had  his  share  of 
wounds,  but  —  what  the  Apaches  recoiled 


SUNSET  PASS.  7 

from  in  awe  was  the  fact  that  he  had  never 
met  them  in  the  field  without  laying  one  at 
least  of  their  number  dead  in  his  tracks. 
He  was  a  slim-built,  broad-shouldered,  pow 
erful  fellow,  with  a  keen,  intelligent  face, 
and  eyes  that  were  kindly  to  all  his  friends, 
but  kindled  at  sight  of  a  foe.  A  broad- 
brimmed,  battered  slouch  hat  was  pulled 
well  down  over  his  brows ;  his  flannel  shirt 
and  canvas  trousers  showed  hard  usage ; 
his  pistol  belt  hung  loose  and  low  upon  his 
hips  and  on  each  side  a  revolver  swung. 
His  rifle  —  Arizona  fashion  —  was  balanced 
athwart  the  pommel  of  his  saddle,  and  an 
old  Navajo  blanket  was  rolled  at  the  cantle. 
He  wore  Tonto  leggins  and  moccasins,  and 
a  good-sized  pair  of  Mexican  spurs  jingled 
at  his  heels.  He  looked  —  and  so  did  his 
horse  —  as  though  a  long,  hard  ride  was 
behind  them,  but  that  they  were  ready  for 
anything  yet. 


8  SUNSET  PASS. 

"  It  makes  a  difference,  captain  —  their 
attacking  me  or  you.  I've  been  alive  among 
'em  so  many  years  that  they  have  grown 
superstitious.  Sometimes  I  half  believe  they 
think  I  can't  be  killed.  Then,  too,  I  may 
have  slipped  through  unnoticed,  but  you  — 
with  all  this  outfit  —  why !  you're  sure  to 
be  spotted,  followed,  and  possibly  ambushed 
in  Sunset  Pass.  It's  the  worst  place  along 
the  route." 

Captain  Gwynne  looked  anxiously  about 
him  a  moment.  He  was  a  hard-headed,  obsti 
nate  fellow,  and  he  hated  to  give  up.  Two 
months  ago  his  wife  had  died,  leaving  to  his 
care  two  dear  little  ones  —  a  boy  of  nine 
and  a  girl  of  six.  He  soon  determined  to 
take  them  East  to  his  home  in  far  Pennsyl 
vania.  There  was  no  Southern  Pacific  or 
any  other  Arizona  railway  in  those  days. 
Officers  and  their  families  who  wanted  to  go 
East  had  to  turn  their  faces  westward,  take 


SUNSET  PASS.  9 

a  four  or  five  days'  "  buckboard "  ride 
across  the  dusty  deserts  to  the  Colorado 
River,  camp  there  perhaps  a  week  before 
"  Captain  Jack  Mellon "  came  backing  or 
sideways  down  the  shallow  stream  with  his 
old  "  Cocopah."  Then  they  sculled  or 
ground  their  way  over  the  sand  bars  down 
to  Fort  Yuma,  a  devious  and  monotonous 
trip ;  then  were  transferred  to  "  lighten  "  or 
else,  on  the  same  old  Cocopah,  were  floated 
out  into  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  California 
and  there  hoisted  aboard  the  screw  steamers 
of  the  Ocean  line  —  either  the  Newbern  or 
the  Montana,  and  soon  went  plunging  down 
the  gulf,  often  very  sea-sick,  yet  able  to  get 
up  and  look  about  when  their  ship  poked 
in  at  some  strange  old  Mexican  town,  La 
Paz  or  Guaymas,  and  finally,  turning  Cape 
St.  Lucas,  away  they  would  steam  up  the 
coast  to  San  Francisco,  which  they  would 
reach  after  a  two  weeks'  sea  voyage  and 


10  SUNSET  PASS, 

then,  hey  for  the  Central  Pacific,  Cape  Horn, 
the  Sierras,  Ogden,  and  the  tramp  to  the 
Union  Pacific  and,  at  last,  home  in  the 
distant  east,  all  after  a  journey  of  five  or 
six  weeks  and  an  expense  of  months  of  the 
poor  officer's  pay. 

Now  Captain  Gwynne  was  what  we  called 
a  "  close  "  man.  He  could  not  bear  the  idea 
of  spending  something  like  a  thousand  dol 
lars  in  taking  himself,  little  Ned  and  Nellie, 
and  their  devoted  old  nurse,  Irish  Kate,  by 
that  long  and  expensive  route.  He  had  two 
fine  horses  and  a  capital  family  wagon, 
covered.  He  had  a  couple  of  stout  mules 
and  a  good  baggage  wagon.  Jim,  his  old 
driver,  would  go  along  to  take  care  of  "  the 
Concord,"  as  the  family  cart  was  termed. 
Manuelito,  a  swarthy  Mexican,  would  drive 
the  mules  ;  the  captain  would  ride  his  own 
pet  saddle  horse,  Gregg,  and  a  discharged 
soldier,  whom  he  hired  for  the  purpose, 


SUNSET  PASS.  11 

would  ride  Mclntosh,  the  other  charger. 
All  were  well  armed.  Parties  were  going 
unmolested  over  the  Sunset  Pass  route  every 
month.  Why  should  not  he? 

The  officers  at  Prescott  shook  their  heads 
and  endeavored  to  dissuade  him,  but  the 
more  they  argued  the  more  determined  was 
he.  There  were  tearful  eyes  among  the  la 
dies  at  Prescott  barracks,  where  Mrs.  Gwynne 
had  been  dearly  loved,  when  they  bade 
good-by  to  the  children.  But  one  fine  day 
away  went  "  the  outfit ;  "  stopped  that  night 
at  Camp  Verde,  deep  down  in  the  valley ; 
started  again  early  in  the  morning,  despite 
the  protestations  of  the  garrison,  and  that 
evening  were  camping  among  the  beautiful 
pine  woods  high  up  on  the  Mogollon  range. 
Sieber's  pronunciation  of  the  name  —  "  Mog- 
eyone  "  -  will  give  you  a  fair  idea  of  what 
it  is  really  like. 

And  now,  three  days   out  on   the  Mesa, 


12  SUNSET  PASS. 

Ned  and  Nellie,  in  silence,  but  with  beating 
hearts,  were  listening  to  this  conversation  be 
tween  their  father  and  the  famous  scout,  and 
hoping,  poor  little  mites,  that  their  father 
would  be  advised  and  turn  back  until  met 
by  cavalry  from  Verde ;  yet  so  loyal  to  him, 
so  trustful  to  him,  that  neither  to  one 
another  nor  to  Kate  would  they  say  a  word. 

"  Well,  Sieber,  I've  argued  this  thing 
out  with  all  Prescott  and  Verde,"  said  the 
captain  at  last.  "  I've  sworn  I  wouldn't 
turn  back,  and  so,  by  jinks,  I'm  going  ahead. 
It's  all  open  country  around  Snow  Lake, 
and  I  can  keep  on  the  alert  when  we  reach 
the  Pass." 

"  You  know  your  business  best,  I  suppose, 
captain,  but — "  and  Sieber  stopped  abruptly 
and  gazed  through  the  open  windows  of  the 
Concord  at  the  two  little  forms  huddled 
together,  with  such  white  faces,  on  the  back 
seat. 


SUNSET  PASS.  13 

u  Well,  won't  you  at  least  wait  and  camp 
here  a  day  or  so  ?  I'll  go  down  by  way  of 
Wales  Arnold's  and  get  him  to  send  up  a 
couple  of  men.  That  won't  be  gcljng  back, 
and  you'll  be  tolerably  safe  here.  The  cav 
alry  won't  be  long  getting  out  this  way." 

"  And  meantime  having  my  beasts  eating 
barley  by  the  bucketful  so  that  I  won't 
have  enough  to  get  through  ?  No,  Al,  I've 
made  calculations  just  how  many  days  it  will 
take  me  to  get  over  to  Wingate,  and  delay 
would  swamp  me.  I  don't  mean  to  discredit 
your  story,  of  course,  but  everybody,  even 
at  Verde,  said  the  renegades  were  all  down 
by  Tonto  Creek,  and  I  cannot  believe  they 
would  be  out  here  to  the  northeast.  I'm 
going  ahead." 

"  Well,  Captain  Gwynne,  I  give  up.  If 
you're  bound  to  go  there's  no  use  talking. 
Stop  one  moment  though ! "  He  spurred 
his  broncho  close  to  the  window,  and  thrust- 


14  SUNSET  PASS. 

ing  in  his  wiry  arm  drew  little  Nell  close  to 
him,  bent  and  kissed  tenderly  her  bonny 
face. 

"  God  guard  you,  baby,"  he  murmured, 
as  finally  he  set  her  down.  "  Adios,  Ned, 
my  lad,"  and  he  shook  the  little  man  heart 
ily  by  the  hand.  "  Good  luck  all !  Now  I 
must  gallop  to  make  up  k time."  He  turned 
quickly  away  and  went  "  loping  "  down  the 
trail,  but  his  gauntlet  was  drawn  across  his 
eyes  two  *  or  three  times  before  he  disap 
peared  from  view.  Two  white  little  faces 
gazed  wistfully  after  him  and  then  into  each 
other's  eyes.  Irish  Kate  muttered  a  blessing 
on  the  gallant  fellow's  head.  "  Come  on, 
Jim,"  said  the  captain,  with  darkening  face, 
and  presently  the  little  train  was  again  in 
motion,  winding  over  the  range  that,  once 
passed,  brings  them  in  view  of  Snow  Lake 
with  the  gloomy,  jagged  rocks  bounding  the 
horizon  far  beyond.  There  is  a  deep  cleft 


HE  DREW   TJTTLE   NELL   CLOSE   TO   HIM. 


SUNSET  PASS.  15 

that  one  sees  in  that  barrier  just  as  he 
emerges  from  the  pine  woods  along  the 
ridge,  and  that  distant  cleft  is  Sunset  Pass. 

Though  seldom  traveled,  the  mountain 
road  from  Fort  Verde  over  to  Fort  Wingate 
was  almost  always  in  fair  condition.  Rains 
were  very  few  and  did  little  damage,  and  so 
at  a  rapid,  jingling  trot  the  wagons  lunged 
ahead  while  the  captain  and  Pike,  the  re 
tired  trooper,  rode  easily  alongside  or  made 
occasional  scouts  to  the  front. 

Knowing  that  his  children  must  have 
heard  his  talk  with  Sieber,  the  captain  soon 
dropped  back  opposite  the  open  window 
and  thrust  in  his  hand  for  the  little  ones  to 
shake. 

"  You're  not  afraid  to  go  ahead,  Ned,  my 
boy  !  I  knew  I  could  count  on  you/'  said 
he  heartily.  "  And  Nell  can  hardly  be 
afraid  with  you  and  her  old  dragoon  dad  to 
guard  her.  Isn't  it  so,  pet  ?  " 


16  SUNSET  PASS. 

And  the  wan  little  face  smiled  back  to 
prove  Nellie's  confidence  in  father,  while 
Ned  stoutly  answered : 

"  I'm  never  afraid  to  go  anywhere  you 
want  me  to  go,  father.  And  then  I  haven't 
had  a  chance  to  try  my  rifle  yet." 

The  boy  held  up  to  view  a  dainty  little 
Ballard  target  gun  —  a  toy  of  a  thing  — 
but  something  of  which  he  was  evidently 
very  proud. 

"  And  then  we've  got  good  old  Pike, 
papa  —  and  Kate  here  —  I'm  sure  she  could 
fight,"  piped  up  little  Nell,  but  there  was  no 
assent  to  this  proposition  from  the  lips  of 
poor  Kate.  All  along  she  had  opposed  the 
journey,  and  was  filled  with  dread  whenever 
it  was  spoken  of.  Vainly  had  she  implored 
the  officers  and  ladies  at  Prescott  to  prohibit 
the  captain  from  making  so  rash  an  attempt. 
Nothing  would  avail.  As  ill-luck  would 
have  it  the  lieutenant  colonel  recently  ga- 


SUNSET  PASS.  17 

zetted  to  the  infantry  regiment  stationed 
in  Northern  Arizona  had  just  come  safely 
through  from  Wingate  with  exactly  such  an 
"  outfit,"  but  without  such  guards,  and  Cap 
tain  Gwynne  declared  that  what  man  had 
done  man  could  do.  There  were  plenty  of 
people  who  would  have  taken  her  off  the 
captain's  hands,  but  nothing  would  induce 
the  faithful  creature  to  leave  the  motherless 
"  childer."  She  loved  them  both  —  and  if 
they  were  to  go  through  danger  she  would 
go  with  them.  All  the  same  she  stood 
sturdily  out  in  her  resentment  toward  the 
captain  and  would  not  answer  now.  Jim, 
too,  on  the  driver's  seat,  was  gloomily  silent. 
Manuelito  with  the  mules  in  rear  had  lis 
tened  to  Sieber's  warning  with  undisguised 
dismay.  Only  Pike  —  ex-corporal  of  the 
captain's  troop  —  rode  unconcernedly  ahead. 
What  cared  he  for  Apaches  ?  He  had 
fought  them  time  and  again. 


18  SUNSET  PASS. 

Nevertheless  when  Captain  Gwynne  came 
cantering  out  to  the  front  and  joined  his 
old  non-commissioned  officer,  it  was  with 
some  surprise  that  he  listened  to  Pike's 
salutation. 

"  May  I  say  a  word  to  the  captain  ?  " 

"  Certainly,  Pike  ;  say  on." 

"  I  was  watching  Manuelito,  sir,  while  the 
captain  was  talking  with  Sieber.  Them 
greasers  are  a  bad  lot,  sir  —  one  and  all. 
There  isn't  one  of  'em  I'd  trust  as  far  as  I 
could  sling  a  bull  by  the  tail.  That  Manuel 
ito  is  just  stampeded  by  what  he's  heard, 
and  while  he  dare  not  whirl  about  and  go 
now,  I  warn  the  captain  to  have  an  eye  on 
the  mules  to-night.  He'll  skip  back  for  the 
Verde  with  only  one  of  them  rather  than 
try  Sunset  Pass  to-morrow." 

"  Why  !  confound  it,  Pike,  that  fellow 
has  been  in  my  service  five  years  and  never 
failed  me  yet." 


SUNSET  PASS.  19 

"  True  enough,  sir ;  but  the  captain  never 
took  him  campaigning.  They  do  very  well 
around  camp,  sir,  but  they'd  rather  face  the 
gates  of  purgatory  than  try  their  luck 
among  the  Tontos.  I  believe  one  Apache 
could  lick  a  dozen  of  'em." 

The  captain  turned  slowly  back,  and  took 
a  good  look  at  the  Mexican  as  he  sat  on  his 
high  spring  seat,  and  occasionally  encour 
aged  his  team  with  endearing  epithets,  or, 
as  in  the  manner  of  the  tribe^  scored  them 
with  wildest  blasphemy.  Ordinarily  Man 
uelito  was  wont  to  show  his  white  teeth,  and 
touch  the  broad,  silver-edged  brim  of  his 
sombrero,  when  "  el  capitan "  reined  back 
to  see  how  he  was  getting  along.  To-day 
there  was  a  sullen  scowl  for  the  first  moment, 
and  then,  as  though  suddenly  recollecting 
ing  himself,  the  dark-skinned  fellow  gave 
a  ghastly  sort  of  grin  —  and  the  captain 
felt  certain  that  Pike's  idea  was  right. 


20  SUNSET  PASS. 

The  question  was  simply  how  to  circumvent 
him. 

At  sunset  the  little  party  was  cosily 
camped  on  the  edge  of  Snow  Lake  —  a 
placid  little  sheet  far  up  among  the  moun 
tains.  The  plateau  was  broken  by  a  low 
ridge  a  few  miles  east,  through  a  gap  in 
which,  known  as  Jarvis  Pass,  ran  the  road 
to  Sunset  Pass  beyond.  Horses  and  mules, 
securely  tethered,  were  grazing  close  at 
hand.  The  two  wagons  were  drawn  in  near 
the  little  camp-fire.  The  children  were  hav 
ing  a  jolly  game  of  hide  and  seek  and 
stretching  their  legs  after  the  long  day's 
ride  in  the  wagon.  Kate  was  stowing  away 
the  supper  dishes.  Manuelito  was  stretched 
upon  the  turf,  his  keen,  eager  eyes  following 
every  motion  of  his  captain,  even  though  his 
teeth  held  firmly  the  little  paper  tobacco 
holder  he  called  his  "papelito."  Out  on 
the  open  ground  beyond  the  little  bunch  of 


SUNSET  PASS.  21 

trees  Pike  could  be  seen,  carbine  in  hand, 
scouting  the  prairie-like  surface  and  keep 
ing  guard  against  surprise.  The  sun  went 
down.  Twilight  hovered  over  them ;  Kate 
had  cuddled  her  beloved  (i  childer "  into 
their  beds  in  the  wagon  and  the  captain 
had  come  around  to  kiss  them  good-night. 
Manuelito  still  sprawled  near  the  tiny  blaze, 
smoking  and  watching,  and  at  last,  as  the 
bulky  form  of  the  Irish  nurse-maid  disap 
peared  within  the  canvas  walls  of  the 
wagon,  the  Mexican  sprang  from  his  re 
cumbent  position,  turned,  and  with  quick, 
stealthy  step  sped  away  through  the  clumps 
of  trees  to  where  the  animals  were  placidly 
browsing.  He  bent  his  lithe  body  double, 
even  though  he  knew  that  at  this  moment 
the  captain  and  the  ex-corporal  were  over  at 
the  east  end  of  their  little  camp-ground, 
chatting  together  in  low  tones.  He  laughed 
to  himself  as  he  reached  his  mules  and 


22  SUNSET  PASS. 

found     them     heavily     hoppled    with    iron 
chains. 

"  As  if  I  would  take  a  burro  when  one 
stroke  gives  me  a  caballo  grande,"  he  mut 
tered,  and  pushed  still  further  out  to  where 
the  four  horses  were  "  lariated "  near  the 
timber.  A  word  to  "  Gregg "  whom  he 
had  often  cared  for ;  a  gleam  of  his  knife 
from  the  sheath  and  the  gallant  horse  was 
free  to  follow  him.  Still  in  silence  and 
stealth  he  led  him  back  toward  the  camp-fire 
where  the  saddles  were  piled.  Still  he 
marked  that  Captain  Gwynne  and  Pike  were 
in  earnest  talk  down  at  the  other  end  of  the 
camp.  Warily  he  reached  forward  to  grasp 
the  captain's  saddle,  when  a  low  exclamation 
was  heard  from  that  officer  himself  and, 
peering  at  him  through  the  trees,  the  Mexi 
can  could  see  that  he  was  eagerly  pointing 
westward  and  calling  Pike  to  his  side. 
Instinctively  Manuelito  glanced  over  his 


SUNSET  PASS.  23 

shoulder  and  saw  a  sight  that  told  him  horse- 
thieving  would  not  save  his  tawny  hide ; 
that  told  him  their  retreat  was  cut  off,  and 
their  only  hope  now  was  in  standing  to 
gether.  Back  among  the  pines  through 
which  they  had  come ;  well  upon  the  ridge, 
and  not  ten  miles  away,  blazed  an  Indian 
signal  fire.  It  was  the  Apache  summons 
for  a  quick  "  gathering  of  the  clans." 

Now  God  help  the  bairnies  in  the  wagon  ! 


CHAPTER  II. 

MANUELITO'S  TREACHERY. 

ALL  this  time  Darkey  Jim  had  been  sleep 
ing  soundly,  wrapped  in  his  blankets,  with 
his  feet  to  the  fire.  There  was  never  an 
hour,  day  or  night,  when  this  lively  African 
could  not  loll  at  full  length,  in  sunshine  or 
shade,  and  forget  his  cares,  if  cares  he  ever 
had,  in  less  than  three  minutes.  In  this 
case,  despite  Sieber's  warning,  which  he  had 
overheard,  he  simply  took  note  of  the  fact 
that  the  captain  and  Corporal  Pike  were 
looking  after  things  and  that  was  enough 
for  him.  There  was  no  use  in  worrying 
when  "  Marsa  Gwin "  was  on  guard,  and 


SUNSET  PASS.  25 

within  an  hour  from  the  time  he  had  had  his 
substantial  supper,  Jim  was  snoring  melodi 
ously,  with  his  head  buried  in  his  arms. 

Manuelito  was  thoroughly  aware  of  this 
trait  of  his  "  stable-mate,"  else  he  had  not 
dared  to  bring  the  captain's  horse  so  close 
to  the  fire.  Now  his  fierce,  half  Indian  face 
seemed  full  of  perplexity  and  dread.  The 
Apache  signal  fire  still  glowed  among 
the  black  pines  away  to  the  westward. 
The  captain  and  Corporal  Pike  were  hur 
riedly  coming  towards  him  through  the 
stunted  trees,  —  yet  here  he  stood  with 
"  Gregg,"  all  irresolute,  all  fearful  what  to 
do.  Back  towards  those  black  pines  and 
the  long  reach  of  road  beyond  he  dare  not 
go.  The  Tontos  held  the  line  of  retreat. 
Here  in  camp  he  hardly  dare  remain  for  the 
keen  cut  in  "  Gregg's "  side  line  showed 
plainly  that  the  knife  had  been  used,  and 
left  him  accused  of  treachery.  Out  of  the 


26  SUNSET  PASS. 

fire  light  and  back  to  the  grazing  ground 
he  must  get  the  horse  at  once  —  but  what 
then  ?  Noiselessly  turning,  he  led  Gregg, 
wondering,  back  to  the  glade  in  which  the 
other  horses  were  tethered,  and  quickly 
drove  his  picket  pin  and  put  him  on  the  half 
lariat.  But  how  was  he  to  conceal  the  sev 
ered  side  line  ?  Off  it  came,  both  nervous 
hands  working  rapidly,  and  then  when  he 
had  about  determined  to  cut  off  the  lines  of 
one  of  Jim's  mules  and  so  throw  suspicion 
on  him,  his  African  mate,  he  was  aware  of 
his  captain  striding  through  the  trees  toward 
him.  He  could  almost  have  run  away. 
But  the  next  words  re-assured  him. 

"  That  you,  Manuelito?  "  challenged  Cap 
tain  Gwynne  in  low,  hoarse  tones.  "  All 
right !  Take  the  side  lines  off  Gregg  and 
saddle  him  for  me  at  once.  I  have  work 
to  do." 

The  Mexican  could  hardly  believe  in  his 


SUNSET  PASS.  27 

escape.  For  the  time  being,  at  least,  he 
stood  safe.  It  would  be  easy  enough  later 
to  "  lose  "  the  telltale  side  line  in  the  waters 
of  the  lake.  Manuelito  cursed  his  folly 
in  having  used  the  knife  at  all.  Haste 
prompted  that  piece  of  bad  judgment.  He 
could  have  unbuckled  them  just  as  well. 
But  all  the  same  he  blessed  his  lucky  stars 
for  this  respite.  In  three  minutes  he  had 
"  Gregg "  saddled  and  ready  by  the  little 
camp-fire.  There  stood  the  captain  and 
Pike  in  low  and  earnest  conversation. 

"  I  shall  only  go  out  a  short  four  miles/' 
said  the  former,  "  but  I  must  satisfy  myself 
as  to  whether  those  beggars  are  coming  this 
way  to-night.  Gregg  and  I  have  6  stalked  ' 
them  many  a  time  and  the  country  is  all  flat 
and  open  for  six  miles  back." 

"  I  wish  the  captain  would  stay  here  and 
let  me  go,"  pleaded  Pike. 

"  No  !     I'm  never  satisfied  without  seeing 


28  SUNSET  PASS, 

for  myself.  You  and  Manuelito  will  have 
your  arms  in  constant  readiness,  and  watch 
for  me  as  I  come  back.  There's  no  moon 
—  no  light  —  but  so  much  the  better  for  my 
purpose.  Is  he  all  ready,  Manuelito  ?  Let 
me  glance  at  my  little  ones  in  the  ambulance 
before  I  start." 

Who  can  say  with  what  love  and  yearning 
the  father  bent  over  those  little  faces  as  he 
peered  in  upon  them  ?  The  flickering  light 
of  the  camp-fire  threw  an  occasional  glimmer 
over  them — just  enough  to  enable  him  to 
see  at  times  the  contour  yet  hardly  to  reveal 
the  features  of  "  his  babies."  He  dare  not 
kiss  for  fear  of  waking  them.  "  God  bless 
and  guard  you,  darlings,"  was  the  choking 
prayer  that  fell  from  his  lips.  Then,  vigor 
ous  and  determined,  he  sprang  into  saddle. 

"  Now,  Pike,"  he  muttered,  "  you've  been 
with  me  in  many  a  night  bivouac  and  you 
know  your  orders.  They  never  attack  at 


SUNSET  PASS.  29 

night  unless  they  know  they  have  an  abso 
lutely  sure  thing,  and  they  haven't  —  with 
you  three.  Jim,  there,  can  fight  like  a 
tiger  whenever  there  is  need.  Watch  the 
horses.  I'll  be  back  in  an  hour  or  there'll 
be  reason  for  my  staying." 

Three  minutes  more  and  they  heard  the 
rythmic  beat  of  "  Gregg's  "  hoofs  out  on  the 
open  plateau  and  dying  away  westward, 
sturdy,  measured,  steady  in  the  trot  the 
captain  preferred  to  any  other  gait.  Pike 
moved  out  to  the  edge  of  the  timber,  where 
he  could  hear  the  last  of  it  —  a  big  anxiety 
welling  up  in  his  heart  and  a  world  of 
responsibility  with  it ;  but  he  clutched  his 
carbine  the  more  firmly  and  gave  a  back 
ward  glance,  his  face  softening  as  his  eyes 
fell  upon  the  wagon  where  little  Ned  and 
Nell  lay  sleeping,  and  darkening  with  men 
ace  and  suspicion  as  he  took  one  swift  look 
at  Manuelito,  cowering  there  over  the  fire. 


30  SUNSET  PASS. 

"  Blast  that  monkey-hearted  greaser  !  "  he 

muttered.      "  I   believe    he  would  knife  the 

whole  party  just  to  get  the  horses  and  slip 

away.     I'll  keep  my  ears  open  to  the  west 

-but  I'll  have  my  eyes  on  you/' 

Once  out  at  his  chosen  station,  Pike 
found  himself  in  a  position  where  he  could 
"  cover "  three  important  objects.  Here, 
close  at  his  right  hand,  between  him  and 
the  lake,  the  horses  and  mules  were  brows 
ing  peacefully  and  as  utterly  undisturbed  as 
though  there  were  not  an  Apache  within  a 
thousand  miles.  To  his  rear,  about  fifty 
yards,  were  the  two  wagons,  the  little  camp- 
fire  and  flitting  restlessly  about  it  the  slouch 
ing  form  of  Manuelito.  In  front  of  him, 

O  ' 

close  at  hand,  nothing  but  a  dark  level 
of  open  prairie  ;  then  a  stretch  of  impene 
trable  blackness ;  then,  far  away  towards  the 
western  horizon,  that  black,  piney  ridge, 
stretching  from  north  to  south  across  the 


SUNSET  PASS.  31 

trail  they  had  come  along  that  day ;  and 
right  there  among  the  pines  — Pike  judged 
it  it  to  be  several  miles  south  of  the  road  — 
there  still  glared  and  flamed  that  red  beacon 
that  his  long  service  in  Arizona  told  him 
could  mean  to  the  Apaches  only  one  thing 
-  "  Close  in  !  "  —  and  well  he  knew  that 
with  the  coming  morn  all  the  renegades 
within  range  would  be  gathered  along  their 
path,  and  that  if  they  got  through  Sunset 
Pass  without  a  fight  it  would  be  a  miracle. 

The  night  was  still  as  the  grave ;  the 
skies  cloudless  and  studded  with  stars. 
One  of  these  came  shooting  earthward  just 
after  he  took  his  post,  and  seemed  to  plunge 
into  vacancy  and  be  lost  in  its  own  com 
bustion  over  towards  Jarvis  Pass  behind 
him.  This  gave  him  opportunity  to  glance 
backward  again,  and  there  was  Manuelito  still 
cowering  over  the  fire.  Then  once  more  he 
turned  to  the  west,  watching,  listening. 


32  SUNSET  PASS. 

Many  a  year  had  old  Pike  served  with  the 
standards  of  the  cavalry.  All  through  the 
great  civil  war  he  had  born  manful,  if  hum 
ble  part,  but  with  his  fifth  enlistment  stripe 
on  his  dress  coat,  a  round  thousand  dollars 
of  savings  and  a  discharge  that  said  under 
the  head  of  "  Character,"  "  A  brave,  reliable 
and  trustworthy  man,"  the  old  corporal  had 
chosen  to  add  to  his  savings  by  taking  his 
chances  with  Captain  Gwynne,  hoping  to 
reach  Santa  Fe  and  thence  the  Kansas 
Pacific  to  St.  Louis,  to  betterment  of  his 
pocket  and  to  the  service  of  one,  at  least,  of 
his  former  troop  commanders.  No  coward 
was  Pike,  but  he  had  visions  of  a  far-away 
home  his  coming  would  bless,  where  a  loved 
sister's  children  would  gather  about  his  knee 
and  hear  his  stories  of  battle  and  adventure, 
and  where  his  dollars  would  enable  him  to 
give  comforts  and  comfits,  toys  and  "  taffee  " 
to  her  little  ones.  Was  he  not  conscious 


SUNSET  PASS.  33 

that  her  eldest  boy  must  be  now  fourteen, 
named  for  him,  Martin  Pike,  and  a  young 
American  all  through  ?  It  must  be  con 
fessed  that  as  the  ex-corporal  stood  there  at 
his  night  post  under  the  stars  he  half 
regretted  that  he  had  embarked  on  this 
risky  enterprise. 

"If  it  were  anybody  else  now  but  old 
Gwynne,"  he  muttered  to  himself,  "  things 
wouldn't  be  so  mixed,  but  he  never  did 
have  any  horse  sense  and  now  has  run  us 
into  this  scrape  —  and  it's  a  bad  one  or  I'm 
no  judge." 

Then  he  glanced  over  his  shoulder  again. 
Manuelito  was  shuffling  about  the  fire  appar 
ently  doing  nothing.  Presently  the  ex-cor 
poral  saw  the  Mexican  saunter  up  to  the 
wagons  and  Pike  took  several  strides  through 
the  timber  watching  before  he  said  a  word  ; 
yet,  with  the  instinct  of  the  old  soldier, 
he  brought  his  carbine  to  full  cock.  Some- 


34  SUNSET  PASS. 

how  or  other  he  "  could  not  tolerate  that 
greaser." 

But  the  suspected  greaser  seemed  to  con 
tent  himself  with  a  cursory  examination  of 
the  forage  and  baggage  wagon  and  pres 
ently  came  slouching  back  to  the  fire  again. 
He  had  some  scrap  of  harness  in  his  hand 
and  Pike  longed  to  know  what,  but  it  was 
too  far  from  his  post  of  observation.  He 
decided  to  remain  where  he  was.  He  must 
listen  for  the  captain.  All  the  same  he  kept 
vigilant  watch  of  Manuelito's  movements 
and  ere  long,  when  the  fire  brightened  up  a 
bit,  he  made  out  that  the  "greaser"  was 
fumbling  over  nothing  else  than  a  side  line. 
Now  what  did  that  mean  ? 

Pike  took  a  turn  through  the  little  herd 
of  "  stock/'  bending  down  and  feeling  the 
side  line  of  each  horse  and  mule.  All  were 
secure  and  in  perfect  order.  The  one  in 
Manuelito's  hands,  therefore,  was  probably 


MANUELITO   WAS   SHUFFLING   ABOUT    THE   FIRE   APPAR 
ENTLY  DOING  NOTHING. 


SUNSET  PASS.  35 

"  Gregg's/'  or  an  extra  "  pair  "  that  he  had 
in  his  wagon.  There  was  nothing  out  of 
the  way  about  that  after  all,  so  Pike  resumed 
his  watch  towards  the  west,  where  still  the 
Apache  beacon  was  burning. 

It  must  have  been  half  after  ten  o'clock. 
Manuelito  had  slunk  down  by  the  fire,  and 
not  a  sound  was  to  be  heard  except  Jim's 
musical  snore,  and  a  little  cropping  noise 
among  the  horses.  Yet  Pike's  quick  ear 
caught,  far  out  on  the  prairie  to  the  west, 
the  sound  of  hoofs  coming  towards  him. 

"  When  those  Apaches  named  a  horse 
f  click-click  '  they  must  have  struck  one  that 
interfered,"  he  muttered.  "  Now  that's  old 
Gregg  coming  in,  I'll  bet  my  boots,  and 
there's  not  a  click  about  his  tread.  'Course 
there  might  be  on  rock,  instead  of  this  soft 
earth.  The  captain's  back  sooner  than  I 
supposed  he'd  come.  What's  up  ?  " 

Quickly,  crouchingly,  he  hurried  forward 


36  SUNSET  PASS. 

some  few  rods,  then  knelt  so  that  he  might 
see  the  coming  horseman  against  the  sky. 
Then  challenged  sharp  and  low  : 

"  Who  comes  there  !  " 

"  Captain  Gwynne,"  was  the  quick  answer. 

"  That  you,  Pike  ?  By  Jove,  man  !  I've 
come  hack  in  a  hurry.  Are  the  horses  all 
right  ?  I  want  to  push  right  on  to  the  Pass 
to-night." 

"  Horses  all  right,  captain.  What's  the 
matter  back  there  ?  >: 

"  I  didn't  venture  too  far,  but  I  went  far 
enough  to  learn  by  my  night  glass  and  my 
ears  that  those  scoundrels  were  having  a 
war-dance.  Now  the  chances  are  they'll 
keep  it  up  all  night  until  they  gather  in  all 
the  renegades  in  the  neighborhood.  Then 
come  after  us.  This  is  no  place  to  make  a 
fight.  It's  all  open  here.  But  the  road  is 
good  all  the  way  to  Sunset,  and  once  there 
I  know  a  nook  among  the  rocks  where  we 


SUNSET  PASS.  37 

can  stow  our  whole  outfit  —  where  there  are 
6  tanks '  of  fresh  water  in  abundance  and 
where  we  can  stand  them  off  until  the  cav 
alry  get  out  from  Verde.  Sieber  said  he'd 
have  them  humming'  on  our  trail  at  once. 

o 

Tanner  and  Canker  and  Lieutenant  Ray  are 
there  with  their  troops  and  you  can  bet  high 
we  won't  have  long  to  wait.  It's  the  one 
thing  to  do.  Rouse  up  Jim  and  Manuelito 
while  I  give  '  Gregg  '  a  rest.  Poor  old  boy," 
he  said,  as  he  noted  his  favorite's  heaving 
flanks.  "  He  has  had  a  hard  run  for  it  and 
more  than  his  share  of  work  this  day." 

In  ten  minutes  Black  Jim,  roused  by  vig 
orous  kicks,  was  silently  but  briskly  hitching 
in  his  team,  Manuelito  silently  but  suddenly 
buckling  the  harness  about  his  mules.  Irish 
Kate,  aroused  by  the  clatter,  had  poked 
her  head  from  underneath  the  canvas  to 
inquire  what  was  the  matter,  and,  at  a 
few  words  from  the  captain,  had  shrunk 


38  SUNSET  PASS. 

in  again,  stricken  with  fear,  but  obeying 
implicitly 

66  Let  the  children  sleep  as  long  as  possible, 
Kate/'  were  G Wynne's  orders.  "  The  jolting 
will  wake  them  too  soon,  I  fear,  but  we've 
got  to  push  ahead  to  Sunset  Pass  at  once. 
There  are  Indians  ten  miles  behind  us." 

A  few  minutes  more  and  all  was  ready 
for  flight. 

"  Now,  Pike,  ride  ahead  and  keep  sharp 
lookout  for  the  road.  I'll  jump  up  here 
beside  Jim  and  drive,  keeping  right  on  your 
trail.  Old  '  Gregg  '  will  tow  along  behind 
the  wagon.  He  is  too  tired  to  carry  any  one 
else  this  day  —  and  you  —  Manuelito,  hark 
ye,  keep  right  behind  '  Gregg.'  Don't  fall 
back  ten  yards.  I  want  you  right  here  with 
us,  and  if  anything  goes  wrong  with  your 
team,  or  you  cannot  keep  up,  shout  and  we'll 
wait  for  you.  Now,  then,  Pike,  forward !  " 

An  hour  later  in  its  prescribed  order  this 


SUNSET  PASS.  39 

little  convoy  had  wound  its  way  through 
Jarvis  Pass  and  was  trotting  rapidly  over 
the  hard  but  smooth  roadway  towards  the 
high  Sunset  range.  The  little  ones  had  been 
aroused  by  the  swaying  and  jolting  and  were 
sitting  up  now  —  silent  and  full  of  nameless 
fears,  yet  striving  to  be  brave  and  soldierly 
when  papa  threw  back  some  cheery  word  to 
them  over  his  shoulders.  Never  once  did  he 
relax  his  grasp  on  the  reins  or  his  keen  watch 
for  Pike's  dim,  shadowy  form  piloting  them 
along  the  winding  trail.  Little  Ned  had  got 
his  "  Ballard  "  and  wanted  to  load,  but  his 
father  laughed  him  out  of  the  idea. 

"  The  Tontos  were  ten  miles  behind  us, 
Ned,  my  boy,  when  we  left  Snow  Lake,  and 
are  farther  away  now.  These  mountain  Apa 
ches  in  northern  Arizona  have  no  horses, 
you  know,  and  have  to  travel  afoot.  Not 
a  rod  will  they  journey  at  night  if  they  can 
help  themselves  —  the  lazy  beggars !  " 


40  SUNSET  PASS. 

And  so  the  poor  father,  realizing  at  last 
the  fruits  of  his  obstinacy,  strove  to  reassure 
his  children  and  his  dependants.  Little 
Nell  was  too  young  to  fully  appreciate 
their  peril,  and  soon  fell  asleep  with  her 
curly  head  pillowed  on  Kate's  broad  lap. 
Ned,  too,  valiant  little  man,  soon  succumbed 
and,  still  grasping  his  Ballard,  fell  sound 
asleep.  In  darkness  and  silence  the  little 
convoy  sped  swiftly  along,  and  at  last,  far  in 
the  "wee  sma'  hours/'  Pike  hailed  : 

"  Here  we  are,  right  in  the  Pass,  captain  ! 
Now  can  you  find  that  point  where  we  turn 
off  the  road  to  get  into  the  rock  corral  ?  " 

"  Take  the  lines,  Jim ;  I'll  jump  out  and 
prospect.  I  used  to  know  it  well  enough." 

Down  the  road  the  captain  went  stumbling 
afoot.  Everything  was  rock,  bowlder  and 
darkness  now.  The  early  morning  wind  was 
sighing  through  the  pines  up  the  mountain 
side  at  the  south.  All  else  was  silence. 


. ...  -  •  «=r  £* 

'          ~~~~Ct'    '"*"* 

"  WHERE'S  MANUELITO  ?  " 


SUNSET  PASS.  41 

Presently  they  heard  him  hail : 

"  Come  on  !     Here  we  are  !  " 

Jim  touched  up  his  wearied  team  and 
soon,  under  the  captain's  guidance,  was 
bumping  up  a  little  side  trail.  A  hundred 
yards  off  the  road  they  halted  and  Gwynne 
called  back  into  the  darkness  : 

"  How's  Manuelito  getting  on,  Pike?  " 

No  answer. 

The  captain  stepped  back  a  few  yards 
and  listened.  Not  a  sound  of  hoof  or 
wheel. 

"  Pike  !  "  he  called.     "Where  are  you  ?  " 

No  answer  at  all. 

"  Quick,  Jim,  give  me  the  lantern,"  he 
called,  and  in  a  moment  the  glimmering 
light  went  bounding  down  the  rocky  trail, 
back  to  the  road. 

And  there  the  two  soldiers  met  —  Pike 
trotting  up  rapidly  from  the  west,  the  cap 
tain  swinging  his  lantern  in  the  Pass. 


42  SUNSET  PASS. 

"  Where's  Manuelito  ? "  was  the  fierce 
demand. 

"Gone,  sir.  Gone  and  taken  the  mules 
with  him.  The  wagon's  back  there  four 
hundred  yards  up  the  road.  " 

"  My  God  !  Pike.  (jive  me  your  horse 
quick.  You  stay  and  guard  my  babies." 


CHAPTER  III. 

ON    THE    ALERT. 

OBEDIENT  to  the  captain's  order,  Pike  had 
dismounted  and  given  him  the  horse,  but  it 
was  with  a  sense  of  almost  sickening  dread 
that  he  saw  him  ride  away  into  darkness. 

"  Take  care  of  the  babies/'  indeed  !  The 
old  trooper  would  shed  his  heart's  blood 
in  their  defence,  but  what  would  that  avail 
against  a  gang  of  howling  Apaches  ?  It 
could  only  defer  the  moment  of  their  capture 
and  then  —  what  would  be  the  fate  of  those 
poor  little  ones  and  of  honest  old  Kate  ? 
Jim,  of  course,  would  do  his  best,  but  there 
remained  now  only  the  two  men  to  defend 


44  SUNSET  PASS. 

the  captain's  children  and  their  nurse  against 
a  swarm  of  bloodthirsty  Tontos  who  were 
surely  on  their  trail.  There  was  no  telling 
at  what  moment  their  hideous  war-cry  might 
wake  the  echoes  of  the  lonely  Pass. 

With  all  his  loyalty,  Pike  was  almost 
ready  to  blame  his  employer  and  old  com 
mander  for  riding  off  in  pursuit  of  the 
Mexican.  It  was  so  dark  that  no  trail 
could  be  seen.  He  could  not  know  in 
which  direction  Manuelito  had  fled.  It  was 
indeed  a  blind  chase,  and  yet  the  captain 
had  trotted  confidently  back  past  the  de 
serted  wagon  as  though  he  really  believed 
he  could  speedily  overtake  and  recapture 
the  stolen  mules.  Pike  thought  that  the 
captain  should  stay  with  his  children  and 
let  him  go  in  pursuit  or  rather  search,  but 
every  one  who  knew  Gwynne  knew  how 
self-confident  he  was  and  how  much  higher 
he  held  his  own  opinion  than  that  of  any- 


HIS   FIRST    DUTY    SEEMED   TO   BE   TO    GET    THE   PROVISIONS 
FROM    THE   WAGON. 


SUNSET  PASS.  45 

body  else.  "  It  is  his  confounded  bull-head- 
edness  that  has  got  us  into  this  scrape," 
thought  poor  Pike,  for  the  twentieth  time, 
but  the  soldier  in  him  came  to  the  fore  and 
demanded  action  —  action. 

Knowing  the  habits  of  the  Apaches  it 
was  his  hope  that  they  would  not  follow  in 
pursuit  until  broad  daylight  and  that  it 
would  be  noon  before  they  could  reach  the 
Pass.  By  that  time,  with  or  without  the 
mules,  Captain  Gwynne  would  certainly  be 
back.  Meanwhile  his  first  duty  seemed  to 
be  to  get  the  provisions  from  the  wagon  up 
to  the  little  fastness  among  the  great  bowl 
ders  where  the  children,  guarded  by  poor, 
trembling  but  devoted  Kate,  were  now 
placidly  sleeping  —  worn  out  with  the  fa 
tigue  of  their  jolting  ride  from  Snow  Lake. 
She  kept  Black  Jim  with  a  loaded  rifle  close 
by  the  side  of  the  family  wagon  and  pre 
vented  his  falling  asleep  at  his  post,  in 


46  SUNSET  PASS. 

genuine  darkey  fashion,  by  insisting  on  his 
talking  with  her  in  low  tones.  She  kept 
fretting  and  worrying  about  the  absence  of 
the  captain  and  the  non-arrival  of  Manuelito 
with  his  wagon.  She  asked  Jim  a  hundred 
questions  as  to  the  cause  of  the  delay,  but 
he  could  give  no  explanation.  It  was  with 
joy  inexpressible,  therefore,  that  she  heard 
Pike's  well-known  voice  hailing  them  in 
cheery  tones.  He  wanted  Jim. 

"  Where's  the  captain  and  the  wagon  ?  " 
demanded  Kate  in  loud  whisper. 

"  Up  the  road  a  piece,"  answered  Pike  in 
the  most  off-hand  way  imaginable.  "  We'll 
have  it  here  presently  but  Jim'll  have 
to  help.  We've  lost  a  linch-pin  in  the 
dark.  Come  along.  Jim." 

o" 

"  Shure  you're  not  going  to  take  Jim 
away  and  leave  me  alone  with  the  poor 
children.  Oh,  corporal,  for  the  love  of  the 
blessed  saints  don't  do  that !  " 


SUNSET  PASS.  47 

"  She  !  Kate.  We  won't  be  any  distance 
away  and  there  ain't  an  Indian  within  ten 
miles.  They  wouldn't  dare  come  prowling 
around  at  night.  Here,  you  take  Jim's  gun 
and  blow  the  top  of  the  head  off  the  first 
Apache  that  shows  up.  We'll  be  back  in 
five  minutes.  How  are  the  kids  —  sleep- 
ing?" 

"  Sleeping  soundly,  God  be  praised,  and 
never  draming  of  the  awful  peril  we're  in." 

"  Peril  be  blowed  !  "  answered  Pike  stout 
ly.  "  We're  safer  here  than  we  could  be 
anywhere  east  of  the  Verde  and  as  soon  as 
it's  good  and  light  and  the  horses  are  rested, 
we'll  be  off  for  the  Colorado  Chiquito  and 
leave  the  Tontos  miles  behind.  Take  things 
easy,  old  girl,  and  don't  worry.  Come 
along,  Jim." 

And  so  away  they  went  through  the  inky 
darkness,  plunging  along  the  rocky  and 
winding  path  by  which  they  had  brought 


48  SUNSET  PASS. 

the  ambulance  up  the  steep.  Not  until 
they  had  got  down  into  the  road  itself  did 
Pike  give  his  negro  comrade  an  idea  of 
what  had  happened.  Then,  speaking  low 
and  seizing  the  other's  arm,  he  began  : 

"  Jim,  old  boy,  we've  got  to  pull  together 
to-night.  There's  nothing  the  matter  with 
the  wagon  —  that's  all  right,  but  that  whelp 
Manuelito  has  run  off  with  the  mules  and 
the  captain's  put  out  after  him.  It'll  be 
daylight  soon  and  he'll  get  the  son  of  a  gun 
—  sure,  and  then  hurry  back  to  join  us; 
but  the  wagon  lies  just  where  I  think  you 
and  I  can  start  it  down  the  road  and  fetch 
it  nearer  camp.  Then  we  can  rake  out 
what  provisions  we  want  in  case  we  have  to 
stand  a  siege.  See  ?  " 

Black  Jim's  eyes  nearly  popped  from  their 
sockets.  He  had  been  on  scouts  with  his 
master,  and  bragged  prodigiously  around 
garrison  about  how  they  fought  Tontos 


JIM,    OLD  BOY,    WE'VE  GOT  TO  PULL  TOGETHER 
TO-NIGHT," 


SUNSET  PASS.  49 

down    along   the    Black    Mesa    and    in    the 
infested  "  Basin." 

To  hear  Jim  talk  one  would  fancy  he  had 
killed  at  least  half  a  dozen  Indians  in  hand 
to  hand  encounters.  Indeed  he  had  be 
haved  with  self-possession  and  a  very  fair 
degree  of  coolness  in  the  two  affairs  which 
G Wynne's  troop  had  had  when  Jim  hap 
pened  to  be  along.  But  this  was  different. 
Then  they  had  forty  or  fifty  veteran  sol 
diers.  Here  —  only  old  Pike  and  himself 
were  left  to  defend  the  position  —  and  no 
one  might  say  how  many  Apaches  might 
come  along.  Besides  it  was  still  dark  (and 
Napoleon  said  all  men  were  cowards  in  the 
dark),  though  far  in  the  east  a  grayish  pal 
lor  was  creeping  up  from  the  horizon. 
Who  could  blame  poor  Jim  if  his  knees 
shook  and  his  teeth  chattered  a  little,  but 
he  went  manfully  along  by  Pike's  side  and 
soon  they  reached  the  abandoned  wagon. 


50  SUNSET  PASS. 

As  luck  would  have  it,  Manuelito  had 
stopped  where  the  road  began  a  pretty 
sharp  descent  and  Pike  felt  sure  that  if  they 
could  only  start  the  thing  they  could  run 
the  wagon  almost  opposite  their  hiding 
place.  Then  it  would  be  far  easier  to  get 
the  stores  up  the  rocks.  Taking  the  pole 
himself  and  telling  him  to  "  put  his  shoul 
der  to  the  wheel "  Pike  sung  out  a  cheery 
"  Heave  !  "  and,  slowly  at  first,  then  more 
rapidly,  the  vehicle  with  its  precious  freight 
came  thundering  down  the  rocky  and  almost 
unused  road.  Pike  had  to  hold  back  with 
all  his  might  and  to  shout  for  Jim  to  join 
him,  but  between  them  they  managed  to 
control  the  speed  of  the  bulky  runaway  and 
to  guide  it  safely  to  a  point  not  far  from 
their  little  camp.  The  old  trooper  rummaged 
about  until  he  found  the  lantern  hanging 
under  the  seat.  This  he  quickly  lighted, 
and  then,  loading  a  sack  of  barley  for  the 


SUNSET  PASS.  51 

horse  on  Jim's  shoulders,  and  lugging  a  box 
of  hard  bread  under  one  arm  and  of  bacon 
under  the  other,  he  led  the  way  up  among 
the  rocks  until  they  reached  Kate's  "  field 
hotel,"  as  he  called  it.  There  they  dumped 
their  load  under  the  ambulance.  Pike  whis 
pered  a  jovial  "  Go  to  sleep,  old  girl. 
You're  all  safe  "  to  the  still  trembling  Irish 
woman,  then  down  they  went  for  another 
load.  This  time  they  came  laden  with  a 
wonderful  assortment.  Coffee,  sugar,  con 
densed  milk,  canned  corned  beef,  potted 
ham,  canned  corn  and  tomatoes,  some  flour 
and  yeast  powders,  a  skillet  or  two,  the 
coffee  pot,  some  cups,  dishes,  etc.,  and  these, 
too,  were  placed  close  to  the  ambulance,  to 
Kate's  entire  mystification ;  and  then,  send 
ing  Jim  down  for  another  little  load,  Pike 
set  to  work  to  build  a  tiny  fire  far  back  in  a 
cleft  in  the  rocks. 

"  We  '11  all  be  glad  of  a   cup    of   coffee 


52  SUNSET  PASS. 

now/'  he  said  to  himself,  "  and  so  will  the 
captain  ;  he  should  be  brought  back  before 
day.  We  may  have  no  chance  for  cooking 
after  the  sun  is  up.  Thank  God,  there's 
water  in  plenty  here  in  these  hollows." 

Out  in  the  Arizona  mountains  one  may 
journey  day  after  day  in  July  or  August,  and 
all  through  the  fall  and  winter,  and  cross 
gulley,  gorge,  ravine,  canon  and  water  cross 
and  find  them  all  dry  as  a  bone  —  not  a  drop 
of  water  running.  It  is  useless  to  dig  below 
the  surface,  as  one  could  do  in  sandy  soil  and 
find  water,  for  it  is  all  rock.  Indeed  it  would 
be  impossible  to  dig  ;  nothing  short  of  blast 
ing  would  make  an  excavation.  But  a  kind 
Providence  has  decreed  that  the  scout  or 
traveler  should  not  be  left  to  die  of  thirst. 
Here  and  there  in  the  low  ground  or  in  the 
ravines  are  deep  hollows,  in  which  the  water 
has  gathered  during  the  rainy  season,  and  this 
is  almost  always  palatable  and  sweet.  One 


SUNSET  PASS.  53 

only  has  to  know  where  these  "  tanks  "  are, 
and  he  is  all  right.  Both  Captain  Gwynne 
and  Pike  had  twice  been  over  to  the  Pass 
before,  and,  spending  a  day  or  more  there 
scouting  the  neighborhood,  had  noted  the 
little  nook  among  the  great  bowlders  and  the 
abundant  supply  of  water.  It  was  God's 
mercy  that  this  was  the  case. 

And  now  as  he  boiled  his  coffee  in  the 
little  niche  whence  no  betraying  gleam  from 
his  fire  could  shoot  out  across  the  gorge,  Pike 
gave  himself  over  to  a  calm  look  at  the  situ 
ation.  If  the  captain  recovered  the  mules 
and  got  back  by  sunrise  —  despite  fatigue 
they  could  give  them  and  the  horses  a  good 
feed  of  barley  and  then  push  for  the  Colo 
rado  Chiquito,  some  twenty  miles  away.  Once 
across  that  stream  they  were  comparatively 
safe,  for  the  Apaches  had  a  superstitious 
feeling  against  venturing  %  beyond.  That 
country  was  considered  as  belonging  to  the 


54  SUNSET  PASS. 

Maqui  Pueblo  Indians,  of  whom  the  wild 
Tontos  stood  a  little  in  dread.  Then,  a  little 
further  on,  began  the  Navajo  country,  and 
the  Navajos  —  once  the  most  fearless  and  in 
tractable  of  mountain  tribes  —  were  now  all 
gathered  in  at  their  reservations  about  old 
Fort  Defiance,  —  the  richest  Indians  in  sheep, 
cattle  and  "  stock  "  on  the  face  of  the  globe. 

o 

No  Apache  dare  venture  on  their  territory, 
and  white  men,  on  the  contrary,  were  safe 
there.  "  If  we  can  only  get  away  before 
those  scoundrelly  Tontos  get  after  us,"  said 
Pike  to  himself.  "  Even  if  the  captain 
doesn't  get  the  mules,  we  can  abandon  the 
wagon  and  the  heavy  luggage,  cram  the 
ambulance  with  provisions  and  make  a  run 
for  it  to  Sunset  crossing.  I  wonder  which 
way  that  blackguard  of  a  greaser  did  go.  He 
would  hardly  dare  go  back  the  way  he  came 
with  every  chance  of  running  slap  into  the 
Tontos.  He  has  taken  hard  tack  and  bacon 


SUNSET  PASS.  55 

enough  to  keep  him  alive  several  days.  It's 
my  belief  he  means  to  hide  somewhere  about 
Jarvis  Pass  until  he  sees  the  Indians  follow 
ing  our  trail  and  then,  when  they  are  fairly 
past,  to  make  a  run  for  the  Verde.  The 
cowardly  hound !  " 

Then  Jim  came  stumbling  up  the  path 
with  his  load  and  the  lantern.  Pike  gave 
him  a  big  tin  mug  of  steaming  coffee  and  a 
couple  of  "  hard  tack."  Took  another  down 
to  Kate,  whom  he  pacified  by  saying  that 
the  captain  was  with  Manuelito  and  the  mules 
and  bidding  her  to  lie  down  and  get  a  little 
sleep  before  day.  Then  he  went  back  to  Jim. 

"  Now  young  man,"  said  he,  "  I  want  you 
to  listen  carefully  to  what  I  say.  You  had  a 
nap  last  evening  —  a  sound  sleep  in  fact  and 
I've  not  had  a  wink.  If  I  can  get  an  hour 
or  an  hour  and  a  half  it  will  fetch  me  out  all 
right  for  the  day's  work.  This  coffee  will 
freshen  you  up  and  keep  you  awake.  You 


56  SUNSET  PASS. 

stand  guard  until  sunrise  —  until  the  sun  is 
well  up,  in  fact,  then  call  me.  Keep  your 
ears  wide  open  ;  listen  for  every  sound  ;  if  it's 
the  captain  coming  back  you  '11  hear  the  hoof 
beats  down  there  on  the  road  ;  if  it's  Apaches 
you  won't  hear  anything.  But  you  take  my 
word  for  it,  Jim,  they  won't  attempt  to 
follow  beyond  Snow  Lake  to-night.  They 
can't  be  here  before  noon,  and  by  that  time 
we  '11  be  miles  away  towards  the  river.  Don't 
get  stampeded.  Just  keep  cool ;  watch  and 
listen.  If  Kate  asks  anything  more  about  the 
captain  tell  her  he's  down  by  the  wagon.  It 
was  too  heavy  to  fetch  up  here.  I  don't 
want  to  make  a  man  lie,  but  we  mustn't  let 
her  and  those  poor  little  kids  know  he's 
away.  Now  are  you  game  for  it,  Jim  ?  " 

The  negro  mechanically  took  the  rifle  that 
Pike  handed  to  him.  "  I  '11  do  my  best, 
corporal,"  he  said. 

"That's  a  trump  !  Now  I  believe  I  can  rest 


SUNSET  PASS.  57 

easy/'  answered  Pike,  and  so  saying  he  un 
rolled  his  blankets,  spread  them  on  the 
ground  close  by  the  ambulance,  looked  to  the 
chamber  of  his  revolver  to  see  that  every  cart 
ridge  was  all  right,  lay  his  rifle  by  the  wheel, 
lay  down  and  rolled  himself  into  his  soldier 
bedding,  and  was  asleep  in  three  minutes. 

How  long  afterwards  it  was  that  he  was 
aroused  Pike  could  not  begin  to  guess.  It 
seemed  to  him  that  he  had  not  slept  five 
minutes  yet  he  had  had  a  good,  long,  refresh 
ing  nap,  and  now  it  was  broad  daylight. 
The  sun  was  shining  brightly  and  Black  Jim 
was  bending  over  him  ;  his  finger  on  his  lips. 
Pike  sat  up  and  rubbed  his  eyes.  The  first 
question  he  longed  to  ask  was  :  "  Has  the 
captain  got  back  ?  "  but  Jim  pointed  to  the 
ambulance  and,  listening,  the  old  trooper 
heard  childish  voices,  soft  and  low  ;  their 
bubbling  laughter  telling  of  their  utter  igno 
rance  of  the  dread  anxiety  which  hovered 


58  SUNSET  PASS. 

over  the  camp.  Kate,  worn  out,  was  evi 
dently  still  asleep  and  the  children  were  chat 
ting  blithely  together  but  taking  care  not  to 
disturb  their  kind  old  nurse.  Little  Ned 
poked  his  hand  out  through  the  narrow  space 
between  the  curtain  and  the  frame  of  the 
door  and  peeped  through  with  one  merry 
blue  eye  as  he  shook  hands  with  Pike,  who 
had  scrambled  to  his  feet. 

"  Where's  papa  ?  "  he  whispered. 

"  He's  all  right,  little  man,"  answered  Pike, 
smiling  cheerfully  up  at  the  bright  boy  face, 
though  the  old  soldier's  heart  was  heavy  as 
lead.  "  He's  all  right.  He's  down  looking 
after  the  mules  with  Manuelito.  You  and 
Nellie  hungry  ?  I  '11  get  you  some  breakfast 
presently,  but  better  let  old  Kate  sleep  as 
long  as  she.  can." 

"  I  'd  like  to  come  out,  corporal,  and  look 
around,"  whispered  Ned. 

"  Wait  a  little  while,  my  lad.     It's  very 


SUNSET  PASS.  59 

early  and  the  air  is  pretty  keen.  I  '11  let  you 
out  presently.  See  if  you  can  find  papa's 
field  glasses  in  there  anywhere.  I  want  to 
take  a  look  at  the  road  with  them." 

Ned  withdrew  his  little  brown  fist  and 
could  be  heard  groping  around  the  dark 
interior.  The  captain  had  so  arranged  the 
seats  in  his  "  family  wagon  "  that  they  could 
be  turned  and  flattened  against  the  sides  of 

o 

the  vehicle,  leaving  a  clear  space  in  which 
there  was  abundant  room  for  Kate  and  the 
children  to  lie  at  full  length  and  sleep  in 
comfort,  and  this  was  their  tent  and  sleeping 
apartment.  The  captain  and  his  party  slept 
as  we  always  used  to  sleep  when  scouting  in 
the  dry  season  in  Arizona,  without  shelter  of 
any  kind,  in  the  open  air. 

Presently  the  little  fellow  re-appeared  at 
the  aperture. 

"  Here  it  is,  Pike,"  he  whispered.  "  But 
you'll  have  to  open  the  door  to  get  it  out." 


60  SUNSET  PASS. 

Pike  turned  the  handle,  took  the  "  binoc 
ular,"  gave  Ned  a  jovial  nod  and  another 
shake  of  the  hand,  closed  the  door  and 
strode  away  signalling  Jim  to  follow  him. 
When  they  were  out  of  earshot  of  the  am 
bulance  he  turned  : 

"  Have  you  heard  nothing  —  no  hoof 
beats  ?  " 

"  Not  a  thing,"  answered  Jim.  "  We 
can't  see  the  wagon  from  here,  but  I  could 
hear  anything  if  anything  had  come." 

Pike  looked  wistfully  back  up  the  Pass. 
In  one  or  two  places  the  road  was  visible 
from  their  lookout,  winding  and  twisting 
around  the  rocks. 

Three  hundred  yards  away  it  turned 
around  the  foot  of  a  hill  and  from  that 
point  was  utterly  lost  to  view.  Pike  looked 
at  the  sun,  then  at  his  old  silver  watch. 
"  After  seven  o'clock,  by  jove  !  and  not 
back  yet,"  he  muttered.  "  It's  full  time 


1  'MY  GOD!    THERE'S  NOT  A  LIVING  SOUL  IN  SIGHT." 


SUNSET  PASS.  61 

we  were  off  for  the  Chiquito,  but  we  can't 
stir  without  the  captain."  Then  he  turned 
once  more  to  Jim.  "  Water  the  horses  and 
give  them  a  good  measure  of  barley  each, 
then  put  some  dry  wood  on  those  embers  in 
the  niche  there  —  be  sure  and  make  no 
smoke  —  and  cook  some  breakfast  for  us  all. 
I've  got  to  go  up  to  that  point  yonder. 
From  there  I  can  see  all  over  the  open 
country  to  the  west,  and  the  road,  too,  as 
far  as  Jarvis  Pass.  These  glasses  will  show 
every  moving  object  to  me,  and  I  haven't  a 
doubt  I'll  see  the  captain  somewhere  out 
there  in  the  distance  coming  back  to  join 
us.  Darn  the  mules !  I  don't  much  care 
whether  he  gets  them  or  not,  but  I'd  like 
about  two  minutes'  private  interview  with 
that  blasted  greaser." 

So  saying,  Pike  got  a  pail  of  water  from 
the  "tank,"  liberally  soused  his  head,  face 
and  neck  in  the  clear,  cold  water ;  then, 


62  SUNSET  PASS. 

throwing  his  rifle  over  his  shoulder,  the 
brave  fellow  went  springing  down  the  wind 
ing  trail  to  the  roadway  and  then  strode  west 
ward  up  the  Pass.  A  few  moments  brought 
him  to  the  base  of  the  little  hill,  a  short, 
sharp  climb  brought  him  to  its  crest,  and 
there,  kneeling,  he  adjusted  the  glasses, 
and  for  a  long,  long  minute  swept  the  open 
country  and  the  winding  road  lying  before 
him  in  the  bright  sunshine.  He  could  see 
every  inch  of  the  way  to  Jarvis  Pass,  and 
when  at  last  he  lowered  the  glass  he  groaned 
aloud  :  "  My  God  !  My  God  !  There's  not  a 
living  soul  in  sight." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ON    THE    WATCH. 

FOR  fully  half  an  hour  poor  old  Pike 
remained  there  at  his  post  of  observation, 
every  now  and  then  vainly  scanning  the  pla 
teau  through  his  field  glass.  Meantime  he 
was  talking  over  the  situation  to  himself. 
"  The  jig  is  up  now.  I've  got  to  go  back  to 
camp  presently.  I'll  have  to  tell  them  the 
captain  is  still  away  and  that  I  have  no  idea 
where  he  has  gone.  I  might  just  as  well 
make  a  clean  breast  of  it  and  admit  that 
Manuelito  has  deserted  and  gone  off  with  the 
mules,  and  that  the  old  man  (for  by  this  half- 
endearing  appellative  the  soldiers  often  spoke 


64  SUNSET  PASS. 

of  their  captain)  is  in  pursuit.  I  don't  sup 
pose  he  found  their  trail  until  broad  day 
light  anyhow."  Then  he  looked  back 
towards  the  nook  in  which  his  precious 
charges  were  doubtless  impatiently  awaiting 
his  return.  He  could  just  see  the  top  of 
the  ambulance  over  the  ledge  of  rock  that 
hid  it  from  the  road.  "  Jim  is  just  giving 
them  his  breakfast  about  this  time,"  he  went 
on  with  his  self-communion.  "  They  could 
not  eat  another  mouthful  if  I  were  to  go 
back  now  with  my  bad  news.  Better  wait 
until  they've  had  a  square  meal  before  I  tell 
them.  They  can  bear  it  better  then." 

Still  the  stout-hearted  veteran  would  not 
give  up  hope.  Again  he  swept  the  road  with 
his  glass,  searching  wistfully  for  some  little 
dust  cloud  or  other  sign  of  coming  horseman 
across  the  wide,  open  plateau,  but  all  was 
silence  and  desolation,  and,  at  last,  feeling 
that  he  must  go  back  to  camp  and  get  some- 


SUBSET  PASS.  6£ 

thing  to  eat,  he  shouldered  his  rifle  and  went 
down  the  hill,  his  heart  heavy  as  lead. 

Of  course  it  was  still  possible  for  him  to 
hitch  up  the  team  and  make  a  run  for  it, 
with  Kate  and  the  children,  for  Sunset 
Crossing,  but  he  felt  confident  that  neither 
Kate  nor  little  Ned  would  listen  to  such  a 
project  if  it  involved  leaving  the  captain 
behind.  There  was  yet  a  chance  of  his  old 
commander's  returning  in  time  Although 
he  was  not  to  be  seen  anywhere  over  the 
twenty-mile  stretch  towards  Jarvis  Pass  it 
was  all  the  more  probable  that  he  might 
have  found  Manuelito's  trail  leading  into 
the  mountains  north  or  south  of  the  gorge 
in  which  they  were  now  hiding.  The  Mex 
ican  had  long  been  employed  in  the  pack 
train  and  had  been  up  through  this  range 
towards  Chevelon  Fork  —  he  had  heard 
him  say  so.  Very  probably,  therefore,  he 
had  struck  out  for  the  old  "  short  cut  "  back 


66  SUNSET  PASS. 

to  the  Verde.  It  was  impracticable  for 
wagons  but  easy  enough  for  mules  —  and 
it  lay,  so  Pike  judged,  ten  or  fifteen  miles 
south  of  the  Pass.  The  very  thing  !  It 
would  be  the  most  natural  course  for  him 
to  follow  since  the  signal  fire  west  of  Snow 

o 

Lake  had  showed  them  the  evening  previous 
that  the  Indians  were  on  their  trail.  Doubt 
less  the  captain  had  reasoned  it  out  on  the 
same  line  and  ridden  southward  along  the 
western  base  of  the  range  until  he  had  over 
taken  his  treacherous  employe.  A  huge 
shoulder  of  the  mountain  shut  off  the  view 
in  that  direction,  but  the  theory  seemed  so 
probable  to  Pike  that  his  spirits  began  to 
rise  again  as  he  struck  the  road  Why  ! 
It  might  readily  be  that  at  this  moment  the 
captain  was  not  more  than  a  mile  or  two 
away,  and  hurrying  back,  fast  as  the  mules 
would  let  him,  to  join  the  loved  ones  whom 
he  had  left  at  camp. 


SUNSET  PASS.  67 

"  It's  a  theory  worth  banking  on  for  an 
hour  or  two  at  least,"  said  Pike  to  himself. 
"  By  Jinks  !  I'll  swear  to  it  as  long  as  it  can 
possibly  hold  good.  There's  no  use  in  let 
ting  them  worry  their  hearts  out  —  those 
poor  little  kids.  God  be  with  us  and  help 
me  to  bring  them  safely  through  !  "  And  so, 
much  comforted  in  spirit,  tlu  old  trooper  — 
half  New  England  Puritan,  half  wild 
frontiersman  —  strode  briskly  down  the  road, 
determined  that  he  would  make  no  move  for 
the  Colorado  until  he  knew  from  the  evi 
dence  of  his  own  eyes  that  the  Apaches 
were  coming  in  pursuit. 

The  shortest  way  from  Jarvis  Pass  to  the 
point  where  they  now  lay  resting,  was  by 
way  of  the  road  along  which  they  had  come 
the  night  before,  on  both  sides  of  which,  as 
has  been  said,  the  country  lay  comparatively 
clear  and  open  for  miles  to  both  north  and 
south.  Pike  felt  certain  that  with  the  aid 


68  SUNSET  PASS, 

of  his  glass  he  could  see  the  Indians  almost 
as  soon  as  they  got  out  upon  the  plain  and 
while  still  many  a  long  mile  away.  Then 
there  would  be  abundant  time  to  bundle 
their  supplies  into  the  ambulance,  run  it 
back  to  the  road,  stow  Kate  and  the  chil 
dren  safely  in  the  interior  and  whip  up  for 
"the  Chiquito,"  leaving  their  pursuers  far 
behind.  What  a  mercy  it  is,  thought  Pike, 
that  these  Tontos  have  no  horses !  The 
captain,  too,  he  argued,  even  if  he  had  not 
started  before,  would  have  an  eye  on  that 
road  wherever  he  was,  and  would  gallop  for 
camp  the  moment  he  saw  the  distant  signs 
of  the  coming  foe. 

Even  as  he  trudged  along,  whistling 
loudly  now  by  way  of  conveying  an  idea  of 
jollity  to  the  anxious  little  party  at  the 
ambulance,  Pike's  keen  eyes  were  scanning 
the  mountain  sides.  North  of  the  Pass  the 
ground  did  not  begin  to  rise  to  any  extent 


SUNSET  PASS.  69 

until  fully  half  a  mile  away,  but  southward 
the  ascent  began  almost  at  the  roadside  and 
was  so  steep  as  to  be  in  places  almost 
precipitous.  A  thick  growth  of  scrub  oak, 
cedar  and  juniper  covered  the  mountain  and 
here  and  there  a  tall  tree  shot  up  like  some 
leafy  giant  among  its  humbler  neighbors ; 
and,  standing  boldly  out  on  the  very  point 
where  the  heights  turned  southward,  was  a 
vertical  ledge  of  solid  rock.  Pike  stopped 
instantly.  "  Now  that's  a  watch-tower  as  is 
a  watch-tower  !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  I'll  scram 
ble  up  and  have  a  look  from  there  before  I 
do  another  thing."  So  saying  he  left  the 
road  and  pushing  his  way  among  the 
stunted  trees  and  over  rocks  and  bowlders 
he  soon  began  a  moderately  steep  climb. 
Long  accustomed  to  mountain  scouting,  the 
craft  of  the  old  Indian  fighter  was  mani 
fest  in  his  every  movement.  He  carefully 
avoided  bending  or  breaking  the  merest  twig 


70  SUNSET  PASS 

among  the  branches,  and  in  stepping  he 
never  set  foot  on  turf  or  soft  earth,  but 
skipped  from  rock  to  rock,  wherever  possi 
ble,  so  as  to  leave  no  "  sign "  behind  him. 
It  was  more  a  matter  of  habit  than  be 
cause  he  believed  it  necessary  to  conceal 
his  trail  from  the  Indians  in  this  case. 
No  human  being  on  earth  can  follow  an 
enemy,  like  an  Apache ;  a  bent  twig,  a 
flattened  bit  of  sod,  even  a  tiny  impression 
in  the  loose  sand  or  rocky  surface  will  catch 
his  eye  in  an  instant,  and  tell  him  volumes. 
Pike  knew  well  that  there  was  no  such  thing 
as  hiding  the  trail  of  his  party,  and  thinking 
of  them  he  stopped  to  take  breath  and  look 
down.  Their  little  fastness  was  hidden 
from  him  by  the  trees,  but  he  could  see  the 
baggage  wagon  down  in  the  road,  and,  being 
unwilling  to  have  Kate  and  the  little  ones 
worrying  about  his  long  continued  absence, 
he  set  up  a  loud  and  cheery  shout. 


SUNSET  PASS.  11 

"Hullo  — o  —  o  Jim!" 

Jim's  voice  came  back  on  the  instant. 
"  What  d'you  want  ?  " 

"  Just  save  a  little  breakfast  for  the  cap 
tain  and  me,  will  you  ?  We'll  be  hungry  as 
wolves  when  we  get  in." 

"Is  papa  there?"  piped  up  little  Ned  in 
his  childish  treble. 

"  No  —  he's  down  around  the  west  side. 
He'll  be  in  presently.  I  look  for  him  every 
minute.  He's  all  right,  Ned." 

"  Where  you  at?  "  shouted  Jim  again  in 
his  southern  vernacular. 

"  Up  here  on  the  hill.  I'm  going  a  piece 
farther  to  look  at  a  big  rock.  I'll  be  down 
in  ten  or  twenty  minutes." 

And  so  having  cheered  and  re-assured 
them,  Pike  pushed  on  again.  A  few  min 
utes'  sharp  climbing  brought  him  to  the  base 
of  the  ledge  which  proved  to  be  far  bigger 
and  higher  than  he  had  supposed,  and  all 


72  SUNSET  PAS& 

the  better  for  his  purpose.  Clambering1  to 
the  top  he  could  hardly  repress  a  shout  of 
exultation.  Not  only  had  he  now  a  com 
manding  view  of  all  the  plateau  over  to  the 
ridge  through  which  wound  Jarvis  Pass, 
but  he  could  even  see  over  beyond  towards 
Snow  Lake,  while  northward  for  several 
miles  the  western  foothills  of  the  range  were 
open  to  his  view.  It  was  by  long  odds  the 
best  lookout  he  could  have  found  and  he 
only  regretted  that  his  view  southward  was 
still  shut  off.  Adjusting  his  binocular  he 
again  gazed  long  and  carefully  over  all  the 
plain  and  especially  along  the  western  edge 
of  the  range  to  the  north,  but  the  search 
was  fruitless  as  before.  Not  a  living,  mov 
ing  object  was  in  sight. 

Finding  an  easy  descent  on  the  side  far 
thest  from  camp  and  opposite  that  on  which 
he  had  clambered  to  the  top  Pike  half  slid, 
half  swung  himself  to  the  base  again,  and 


SUNSET  PASS.  73 

there  he  came  upon  a  sight  that  filled  his 
soul  with  joy.  From  base  to  summit  the 
ledge  was  probably  fifty  feet  in  height  and 
was  so  far  tilted  over  on  the  western  side  as 
to  have  an  overhang  of  at  least  fifteen. 
More  than  this,  there  was  a  great  cleft  near 
the  base  and  an  excavation  or  hollow  run 
ning  inwards  and  downwards,  perhaps  fif 
teen  feet  more.  Pike  went  in  to  explore,  and, 
to  his  farther  satisfaction,  found  a  "  tank  " 
where  the  water  had  gathered  from  the 
melting  snows  and  in  the  rainy  season.  He 
tasted  it  and  found  it  cool  and  fresh,  and 
then,  sprawling  at  full  length,  he  drank 
eagerly. 

"  What  a  find  !  "  he  almost  shouted,  with 
glee.  "  We  can  store  Kate  and  the  children 
back  in  there,  throw  up  a  little  barrier  of 
rock  at  the  front  with  loopholes  for  our 
rifles.  Not  a  bullet  or  arrow  can  reach  us 
from  any  direction  except  the  tops  of  those 


74  SUNSET  PASS. 

trees  yonder,  and  God  help  the  Tonto  that 
tries  to  climb  'em.  And,  even  if  the  captain 
don't  come,  by  Jinks  !  we  can  stand  off  all 
the  Apaches  in  Arizona.  It  won't  be  more 
than  three  days  before  Al  Sieber  will  be 
galloping  out  with  a  swarm  of  the  old  boys 
at  his  back,  and  if  Jim  and  I,  in  such  a  fort 
as  this,  can't  lick  Es-Kirninzin  and  his  whole 
gang,  call  me  a  '  dough  boy  !  ' 

The  more  he  explored,  the  better  was 
Pike  pleased  with  the  situation,  and  in  five 
minutes  he  had  made  up  his  mind  what  to 
do.  The  little  nook  in  which  the  party  had 
been  hiding  was  all  very  well  for  the  night 
and  a  good  refuge  for  the  horses  as  well 
as  the  human  beings,  but  in  broad  day 
light  the  Indians  would  have  no  difficulty  in 
finding  and  surrounding  it,  and  there  was 
hardly  any  space  within  its  rocky  walls 
which  would  be  safe  from  bullet  or  arrow 
when  once  the  assailants  got  up  the  hillside. 


SUNSET  PASS.  75 

Here,  however,  they  could  stand  a  siege  with 
almost  perfect  safety.  From  above  or  from 
the  flanks  the  Indians  could  not  reach  them 
at  all,  and  if  they  attacked  from  the  front  — 
up  hill  —  nothing  but  a  simultaneous  and 
preconcerted  rush  of  the  whole  band  could 
succeed,  and  Pike  knew  the  Apache  well 
enough  to  feel  secure  against  that  possibility. 
Now  it  was  possible  to  wait  for  the  cap 
tain  indefinitely.  If  he  got  back  in  abun 
dant  time  for  them  to  load,  up  and  push  out 
for  the  Colorado  Chiquito  before  the  Indians 
reached  the  Pass  —  well  and  good.  If  he 
did  not  —  well,  thought  Pike,  from  here  I 
can  see  the  scoundrels  when  they  are  still 
miles  away,  and  all  we've  got  to  do  is  stock 
this  cave  with  blankets,  provisions  and 
ammunition,  build  our  breastwork  and  let 
'em  come.  "  With  Kate  and  the  kids  out 
of  harm's  way,  back  in  that  hole,  I 
wouldn't  ask  anything  better  than  to  have 


76  SUNSET  PASS. 

those  whelps  of  Tontos  trail  us  up  here  and 
then  attempt  to  rout  us  out.  We'd  make 
some  of  'em  sick  Indians  ;  wouldn't  we,  old 
girl  ? "  wound  up  the  ex-corporal  apostro 
phizing  his  Henry  rifle. 

Greatly  elated  over  his  discovery,  Pike 
went  scrambling  down  the  rocky  hillside  in 
the  direction  of  camp.  He  no  longer  took 
any  precautions  about  concealing  his  "  trail." 
He  well  knew  that  in  the  two  or  three  trips 
it  would  take  to  bring  their  stores  and  then 
Kate  and  the  children  up  to  the  cave,  such 
"signs "  would  be  left  that  the  Apaches 
could  follow  without  the  faintest  hesitation. 

Five  minutes  brought  him  into  the  midst 
of  his  charges,  and  here  for  a  moment  the 
stout-hearted  soldier  was  well  nigh  un 
manned.  Instantly  he  was  besieged  with 
eager  and  anxious  inquiry  about  papa,  and 
poor  little  Nellie,  who  had  come  running 
eagerly  forward  when  she  heard  his  cheery 


BENDING    DOWN    HE   RAISED   HER    IN    HIS    STRONG    ARMS. 


SUNSET  PASS.  77 

voice,  looked  wistfully  beyond  him  in  search 
of  her  father,  and  seeing  at  last  that  Pike 

'  O 

had  come  alone,  she  clasped  her  little  arms 
about  his  knees  and,  looking  imploringly  up 
in  his  face,  burst  into  tears  and  begged  him, 
amid  her  sobs,  to  say  why  papa  did  not 
come.  Bending  down,  he  raised  her  in  his 
strong  arms  and  hugged  her  tight  to  his 
heart. 

"  Don't  cry,  little  sweetheart,"  he  plead. 
"  Don't  worry,  pet.  Papa  isn't  far  away. 
He's  coming  soon  and  I've  got  such  a 
beautiful  playhouse  for  you  and  Ned  and 
Kate  up  there  on  the  hill.  We  won't  go  up 
just  now,  for  we  all  want  to  be  here  to  give 
papa  his  breakfast  when  he  comes  in.  And 
my  !  how  hungry  I  am,  Nellie  !  Won't 
you  give  old  Pike  some  coffee  now,  and 
some  bacon  and  'frvjoles  ?  " 

Nellie,  like  a  little  woman,  strove  to  dry 
her  tears  and  minister  to  the  wants  of  her 


78  SUNSET  PASS. 

staunch  old  friend,  the  corporal.  Ned  man 
fully  repressed  his  own  anxiety  and  helped 
to  comfort  his  little  sister,  but  Kate  retired 
behind  the  ambulance  and  wept  copiously. 
She  knew  that  something  must  be  wrong. 
No  mere  matter  of  a  mule  astray  would  keep 
the  captain  from  "  the  childer  "  all  this  long 
while.  Black  Jim  had  set  the  coffee  pot 
and  skillet  again  on  the  coals  and  in  a  few 
moments  had  a  breakfast  piping  hot,  all  ready 
for  the  present  camp  commander  who,  mean 
time,  slung  aside  his  slouch  hat  and  neck- 
handkerchief,  rolled  up  his  sleeves  and  was 
giving  himself  a  plentiful  sluicing  of  cold 
water  from  one  of  the  "  tanks  "  below  them. 
Then,  as  he  went  up  to  take  his  rations,  he 
sung  out  gaily  to  Ned : 

"  Here,  Ned,  my  boy.  We  ought  to  have 
a  sentry  posted  to  present  arms  to  the  cap 
tain  when  he  comes  in.  Get  your  rifle  and 
mount  guard  until  I  get  through  here." 


SUNSET  PASS.  79 

And  Ned,  proud  to  be  so  employed,  and  out 
in  the  Indian  country,  too,  was  presently 
pacing  up  and  down  on  the  side  nearest  the 
road,  with  all  the  gravity  and  importance  of 
a  veteran  soldier. 

Pike  made  great  pretence  of  having  a 
tremendous  appetite  and  made  little  Nell 
help  him  to  coffee  twice,  refusing  to  take 
sugar  except  from  her  hand.  Once  during 
his  repast,  poor  old  Kate  came  forth  from 
behind  the  ambulance,  and  with  her  apron 
to  her  eyes  slowly  approached  them,  but  the 
trooper  sternly  warned  her  back,  saying  no 
word  but  pointing  significantly  to  the  ambu 
lance.  He  did  not  mean  to  have  the  little 
ones  upset  by  the  nurse's  lamentations. 
His  "  square  meal "  finished,  he  asked  Nellie 
to  see  to  the  breakfast  for  her  father  being 
carefully  kept  in  readiness  and  then,  saun 
tering  off  towards  the  road,  called  Jim  to 
follow  him. 


80  SUNSET  PASS. 

Then,  while  they  were  apparently  exam 
ining  the  bolts  of  the  baggage  wagon,  he 
gave  the  darkey  his  instructions. 

"  Jim,  I  don't  know  when  the  captain  will 
get  back  or  how  far  he's  gone,  but  I  haven't 
a  dread  or  fear  of  any  kind  now.  Up  there 
where  you  see  that  big  gray  rock  I've  found 
a  cave  that  is  the  most  perfect  defensive 
position  I  ever  saw.  No  bullet  can  reach 
it  from  any  point,  and  on  the  contrary,  from 
the  mouth  of  the  cave,  we  command  the 
whole  hillside.  Now  if  those  Apaches  are 
bound  to  follow,  they  ought  to  be  along 
here  about  noon.  If  the  captain  gets  here 
in  plenty  of  time  we'll  pull  out  for  the 
Chiquito.  If  he  doesn't  I  mean  to  move 
the  whole  outfit  up  to  the  cave.  I  want  you 
now  to  roll  and  strap  all  the  blankets ;  to 
get  the  provisions  and  everything  of  that 
kind  in  shape  so  that  we  can  easily  '  pack  ' 
them,  then  I'm  going  back  to  the  top  of  the 


SUNSET  PASS.  81 

rock  to  keep  a  look  out.  I  can  see  way 
beyond  Jarvis  Pass,  and  if  the  Indians  are 
following  I'll  spot  them  before  they  get 
within  ten  miles  of  us.  See?  " 

Quarter  of  an  hour  later  Pike  was  once 
more  on  the  top  of  the  rock.  First  he 
glanced  at  his  wratch.  Just  nine  o'clock. 
Then  he  sprawled  at  full  length  upon  the 
blanket  he  had  brought  with  him,  levelled 
his  glasses  and,  resting  his  elbows  on  the 
rock,  gazed  long  and  earnestly  over  the  wind 
ing  road.  Presently  he  sat  up,  whipped  off 
the  red  silk  handkerchief  about  his  neck, 
carefully  wiped  the  eye  and  object  glasses  of 
his  binocular  and  his  own  tired  old  eyes  and, 
once  more  prone  on  his  stomach,  gazed 
again ;  then  twisted  the  screw  a  trifle  as 
though  to  get  a  better  focus ;  gazed  still 
another  time  ;  lowered  the  glass  ;  rose  to  his 
knees,  his  eyes  gleaming  brilliantly  and  his 
teeth  setting  hard  ;  once  more  levelled  the 


82  SUNSET  PASS. 

glass  and  looked  with  all  his  soul  in  his  eyes 
and  then  slowly  let  the  faithful  binocular 
fall  to  the  blanket  by  his  side  as  he  spoke 
aloud  : 

"  By  Jove  !     They're  coming." 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE    PRISONER. 

WHAT  Pike  saw,  far  over  on  the  plateau 
towards  Jarvis  Pass  would  perhaps  have 
attracted  no  attention  from  tourist  or  casual 
looker  through  a  field  glass,  but  to  him  - 
an  old  trooper,  Indian  fighter  and  moun 
taineer,  it  conveyed  a  world  of  meaning. 
Against  the  dark  background  of  that  distant 
ridge  and  upon  the  dun-colored  flat  along 
which  the  road  meandered,  the  old  corporal 
could  just  make  out  a  number  of  dingy 
white  objects  —  mere  specks  —  bobbing  and 
twinkling  in  the  blazing  sunshine.  Nothing 
of  the  kind  had  been  there  when  he  looked 


84  SUNSET  PASS 

before  and  he  knew  only  too  well  what  it 
meant.  Those  dirty  white  specks  were  the 
breech-clouts  and  turbans  worn  by  nearly 
all  the  Tonto  warriors  in  preference  to  any 
other  head-gear  or  clothing,  —  a  cheap  cot 
ton  cloth  being  always  kept  in  abundant 
supply  at  the  agencies  solely  for  their  use. 
Some  of  them,  it  is  true,  wore  no  turban  at 
all,  their  luxuriant  growth  of  coarse  black 
hair  tumbling  about  their  shoulders  and 
trimmed  off  in  a  "  bang "  just  level  with 
their  fierce,  beady  eyes,  being  all  the  head 
covering  they  needed.  But  the  breech-clout 
was  universal  and  some  few  even  wore  loose 
cotton  shirts  These,  with  the  moccasin 
and  leggin  invariably  worn,  the  leggin 
generally  in  a  dozen  folds  at  the  ankle,  made 
the  war  toilet  of  the  intractable  Tonto. 
There  was  none  of  the  finery  of  the  proud 
warriors  of  the  plains  —  the  Sioux,  Chey 
enne  or  Crow  —  but  for  all  that,  when  those 


SUNSET  PASS.  85 

Apaches  took  to  the  war-path,  the  soldiers 
used  to  say,  "  It  meant  business." 

"  They  will  be  here  in  three  hours  at  the 
rate  they're  coming ;  three  short  hours,  too, 
for  those  beggars  can  keep  up  a  jog  trot  all 
day  long.  Now  for  it !  captain  or  no  cap 
tain." 

With  that  brief  soliloquy  Pike  slid  down 
from  his  perch,  and  for  the  second  time  that 
morning  made  his  way  down  the  hillside  and 
back  to  camp.  Here  he  found  Kate  and  the 
children  as  full  of  eager  and  anxious  inquiry 
about  papa  as  before,  and  could  only  comfort 
them  by  saying  that  the  mules  must  have 
run  far  to  the  south  and  were  proving  more 
than  ordinarily  obstinate  about  coming  back. 
Still,  he  said,  papa  is  sure  to  be  here  before 
noon,  and  indeed  he  hoped,  and  more  than 
half  believed,  that  such  would  be  the  case. 
Knowing  the  danger  that  menaced  his  little 
ones,  it  could  not  be  that  the  captain  would 


86  SUNSET  PASS. 

not  use  every  endeavor  to  get  back  to  them 
before  the  Indians  could  reach  the  Pass. 

Jim  had  obeyed  his  instructions  to  the 
letter.  There  were  the  two  big  rolls  of 
blankets,  securely  strapped  ;  there  were  the 
supplies;  the  bacon,  bread, frijoles,  coffee, 
sugar,  canned  meats  and  vegetables.  Even 
some  jams  and  jellies  for  the  children, 
together  with  the  coffee  pot,  skillets,  plates, 
cups  and  saucers  all  stowed  away  in  the  big 
iron  kettle  that  hung  under  the  wagon  and 
in  a  pail  or  two,  ready  to  be  plumped  into 
the  ambulance  if  a  start  was  to  be  made  for 
the  river,  or  "  toted "  up  the  hill  if  the 
order  was  to  take  to  the  cave.  And  then 
the  irrepressible  propensity  of  the  negro  had 
cropped  out  again.  There  lay  Black  Jim 
peacefully  snoring  in  the  sunshine,  oblivious 
of  all  danger. 

"  Now,  Kate,  as  the  captain  has  my  horse, 
I'm  going  to  borrow  his  awhile,"  said  Pike. 


SUNSET  PASS.  87 

"  I  want  to  ride  down  the  range  a  little  way 
and  see  if  I  can't  help  him  home  with  the 
mules.  You  are  perfectly  safe  here.  Just 
as  safe,  at  least,  as  you  would  be  if  I  were 
with  you.  I  wouldn't  go  and  leave  you  if  it 
were  not  absolutely  necessary,  as  I  believe  it 
to  be.  You'll  take  care  of  her,  won't  you, 
Ned,  my  boy  ?  " 

The  little  fellow  looked  up  bravely.  "  Nel 
lie  and  I  aren't  afraid,"  he  said.  "  Only  we 
do  want  papa  to  come  and  get  something  to 
eat.  Jim  told  me  not  to  let  the  fire  go  out 
and  I  put  on  a  little  dry  wood  now  and 
then." 

But  Kate  sat  with  her  apron  to  her  eyes, 
rocking  to  and  fro  in  speechless  misery  and 
dread,  Nellie  striving  vainly  to  comfort  her. 
All  unconscious  of  the  coming  peril,  the 
little  ones  were  fearless  and  almost  content. 
They  had  no  sympathy  for  their  old  nurse's 
terror.  Pike  stopped  and  spoke  once  again 


88  SUNSET  PASS. 

to  Kate  before  riding  away,  but  in  ten  min 
utes,  mounted  on  a  fresh  and  spirited  horse, 
with  his  rifle  athwart  the  pommel  and  the 
field  glasses  in  their  case  swinging  by  their 
strap  from  his  shoulder,  he  cantered  boldly 
up  the  Pass  and  was  soon  well  out  upon  the 
open  plain.  His  idea  was  to  ride  straight 
out  to  the  west  along  the  road,  five  or  six 
miles  and  more  if  necessary,  scour  the  coun 
try  southward  with  the  glasses  in  search  of 
Captain  Gwynne,  and  if  he  saw  nothing  of 
him  to  get  near  enough  to  the  advancing 
Apaches  to  see  about  how  large  a  party  they 
were,  then  to  whirl  about,  put  spurs  to  his 
horse,  ride  like  the  wind  for  camp,  get  Kate, 
the  children,  Jim  and  the  blankets  and  pro 
visions  up  to  the  cave  and  be  all  ready  for 
the  Tontos  when  they  came  "  Gregg  "  was 
curveting  and  prancing  even  now,  eager  for 
a  gallop,  but  Pike's  practised  hand  kept  him 
down  to  a  moderate  gait  and  in  this  way  he 


SUNSET  PASS.  89 

rode  steadily  westward  towards  a  distant  rise 
in  the  midst  of  the  undulating  plateau,  and 
there  he  felt  confident  he  could  see  all  that 
there  was  to  be  seen.  It  was  just  ten  o'clock 
when  he  reined  in  at  the  top  of  a  gentle 
ascent  and  unslung  his  glasses.  First  he 
looked  towards  Jarvis  Pass  to  see  how  far 
away  were  the  enemy  and  how  many  in 
number.  Despite  the  windings  of  the  road 
and  occasional  stunted  trees  or  bushes,  the 
first  glance  through  the  binocular  placed 
them  at  once.  Yes,  there  they  were  in  plain 
view  —  certainly  not  more  than  four  miles 
away.  Not  only  could  he  count  the  breech- 
clouts  and  turbans  now,  but  the  swarthy, 
sinewy  bodies  could  be  made  out  as  they 
came  bobbing  at  their  jog  trot  along  the 
trail.  "  Twenty-five  in  that  party  at  least," 
muttered  Pike,  "  and  coming  for  all  they're 
worth.  But  what  on  earth  are  they  bunched 
so  for  ?  There  seems  to  be  half  a  dozen  in 


90  SUNSET  PASS. 

a  clump,  right  in  the  middle  of  the  road." 
Long  and  earnestly  he  studied  them ;  a 
strange,  worried  expression  coming  into  his 
face.  Then,  just  as  he  had  done  at  the  rock, 
Pike  wiped  the  glasses  and  his  own  eyes,  and 
then  gazed  again. 

"  By  heaven ! "  he  muttered  at  last. 
a  That's  a  prisoner,  sure  as  fate,  that  they 
are  lashing  and  goading  along  ahead  of 
them.  Who  on  earth  can  it  be  ?  Oh,  God 
grant  it  isn't  the  captain  !  "  Rapidly  then 
he  swept  the  plateau  southward,  searching 
the  foothills  of  the  range  south  of  the 
Pass,  his  whole  heart  praying  for  some 
glimpse  of  horse  and  rider,  but  it  was  all 
unavailing.  Then,  with  one  more  look  at 
the  coming  foe,  poor  Pike  turned,  with 
almost  a  groan  of  misery  and  anxiety,  gave 
"  Gregg  "  one  touch  of  the  spur  and  a  flip 
of  the  reins,  and  away  he  flew  at  full  speed 
back  to  his  duty  at  the  Pass.  One  minute 


AWAY  HE  FLEW  AT  FULL   SPEED. 


SUNSET  PASS.  91 

he  reined  in  as  he  neared  the  gorge  to  note 
the  direction  taken  by  Manuelito.  There 
were  the  tracks  of  the  two  mules,  and  run 
ning  southward  out  across  the  open  plain, 
but  the  captain  had  turned  south  almost  the 
instant  he  had  got  out  from  among  the  foot 
hills.  His  trail  started  parallel  with  the 
range.  Surely  then  he  ought  to  have 
returned  to  camp  by  this  time. 

And  now,  as  once  again  he  neared  the 
little  fastness  in  the  rocks,  Pike  drew  rein 
and  rode  at  easy,  jaunty  lope  down  the  Pass. 
He  would  not  alarm  his  charges  by  hoof-beat 
that  indicated  the  faintest  haste.  When 
he  and  "  Gregg "  came  into  view  no  one 
of  the  anxious  watchers  could  have  dreamed 
for  an  instant  that  he  had  seen  a  horde  of 
fierce  Apaches  hastening  to  overtake  them. 

"  Just  as  I  thought,"  he  sung  out  cheer 
ily.  "  The  captain  went  right  down  the 
range  to  the  south  and  the  mules  strayed  off 


92  SUNSET  PASS. 

across  the  plateau,  so  they  missed  each  other 
and  he  won't  come  back  till  he  gets  them. 
It's  all  right,  but  I  expect  he's  pretty  hun 
gry  by  this  time."  Then,  springing  from 
the  saddle,  he  picked  little  Nell  up  in  his 
arms  : 

"  And  now,  baby,  you  want  to  see  the 
beautiful  house  I  found  for  you,  don't  you  ? 
We'll  all  go  up  and  take  a  look  at  it  and 
have  lunch  up  there  —  and  lots  of  fun  — 
while  we  wait  for  papa."  And  then  with  a 
kiss  he  set  her  down  and  stalked  over  to 
where  Jim  was  still  snoring  in  the  sunshine  ! 

"  Wake  up,  Jim  !  "  he  cried,  giving  him  a 
lively  shake  or  two.  "  Wake  up  and  give 
me  a  lift  here.  Nellie  wants  to  see  her 
stone  house." 

It  took  some  hard  shaking  —  it  generally 
does  —  to  rouse  the  darkey  from  his  slumber, 
but  Jim  presently  sat  up,  rubbed  his  eyes, 
looked  around  him,  and  then,  as  though 


SUNSET  PASS.  93 

suddenly  recovering  his  faculties,  sprang  to 
his  feet. 

"  Unsaddle  <  Gregg  '  and  put  the  saddle, 
bridle  and  blanket  with  the  other  stuff, 
Jim,"  whispered  Pike.  "  We  must  take  our 
horse  equipments  and  harness  with  us. 
We've  got  to  move  up  to  the  cave.  No 
hurry,  mind  you.  You  fetch  the  blankets 
first.  I'll  carry  Nellie." 

Then  calling  to  Ned  to  bring  his  Ballard 
—  there  were  lots  of  squirrels  up  the  hill  — 
a  fiction  that  can  hardly  have  been  very 
heavily  charged  against  him,  Pike  quickly 
lifted  Nellie  to  his  shoulders  and  strode  off 
up  the  rocks.  "  You  come,  too,  Kate. 
It's  quite  a  climb  but  it'll  do  you  good,"  he 
shouted,  and  presently  he  had  his  whole 
procession  strung  out  behind  him  and  clam 
bering  from  bowlder  to  bowlder.  Long 
before  they  reached  the  ledge  they  had  to 
let  poor  Kate  recover  breath  and,  after  one 


94  SUNSET  PASS. 

or  two  halts  of  this  kind,  Pike  sent  Jim 
ahead  with  the  blankets  and  bade  him  come 
back  at  once  and  tow,  push  or  "boost  "  the 
stout  Irishwoman  to  their  destination.  At 
last  the  rock  was  reached,  Ned  and  Nellie 
shouting  with  delight  over  the  wonderful 
cave  and  speedily  making  themselves  at 
home  in  its  inmost  recesses,  Kate  breathless 
and  exhausted  and  bemoaning  the  fates  that 
brought  her  on  such  an  uncanny  trip.  The 
blankets  were  spread  out  on  the  smooth  sur 
face  of  the  rock  within  the  great,  gloomy 
hollow.  Jim  was  sent  down  for  another 
load  while  Pike  clambered  up  to  his  watch- 
tower  and  took  a  long  look  with  his  glass. 
The  Indians  had  not  yet  reached  the  rise 
from  which  he  had  counted  their  numbers 
at  ten  o'clock. 

In  an  hour  more  all  the  provisions  they 
could  need  for  several  days,  more  blankets 
and  pillows,  all  the  arms  and  ammunition, 


SUNSET  PASS.  95 

all  the  harness  and  horse  equipments  had 
been  lugged  up  to  and  safely  stowed  in  and 
about  the  cave.  "  They'll  burn  the  wagons, 
blast  them ! "  muttered  Pike  to  himself, 
"  but  we  can  leave  the  horses  there.  They 
won't  harm  them  because  they  will  want 
them  to  get  away  with  in  case  they  find  the 
cavalry  on  their  trail.  The  chances  are  the 
horses  can  be  recovered,  but  darn  me  if 
I'll  let  'em  have  saddle,  bridle  or  harness 
to  run  off  anything  with."  Then  once 
more  he  had  climbed  to  his  post  and  was 
diligently  watching  the  road,  while  Jim, 
obedient  to  orders,  was  rolling  rocks  and 
bowlders  around  to  the  opening  of  the 
cave. 

"  What's  thiin  for?  "  demanded  Kate. 

u  Corporal  Pike's  goin'  to  build  a  wall 
here  to  keep  out  the  bears,"  said  Jim,  with 
lowered  voice  and  a  significant  glance  at  the 
children  prattling  happily  together  at  the 


96  SUNSET  PASS. 

back  of  the  cave,  and  poor  Kate  knew  'twas 
no  use  asking  questions. 

And  now,  through  the  glasses,  Pike  could 
see  the  Tontos  gathered  on  the  low  hillock 
which  had  been  the  western  limit  of  his 
morning  ride.  They  seemed  to  have  come 
suddenly  upon  "  Gregg's  "  hoof  prints  and 
to  have  halted  for  consultation.  Full  half 
an  hour  they  tarried  there  and  the  children 
began  to  clamor  for  the  promised  luncheon. 
Sauntering  down  by  a  roundabout  way  the 
veteran  picked  up  an  armful  of  dry  twigs, 
sticks  and  dead  boughs  and  tossed  them 
down  at  the  mouth  of  the  cave.  Then, 
behind  the  rock,  he  built  a  small  fire  of  the 
dryest  twigs  he  could  find,  explaining  that 
he  didn't  want  smoke  in  the  dining  room, 
and  soon  had  his  skillet  heating  and  his  ket 
tle  of  water  at  the  boil.  Jim  was  directed  to 
cook  all  that  was  needed  for  luncheon  and  to 
have  plenty  for  the  captain,  who  would  be 


SUNSET  PASS.  97 

sure  to  come  back  mighty  hungry  in  course 
of  the  afternoon,  and  the  corporal  was 
speedily  at  his  post  again.  What  could  it 
mean  ?  The  Tontos  were  still  hanging 
about  that  little  hill  six  miles  out  there  on 
the  plain.  Was  it  possible  they  had  aban 
doned  the  pursuit  ? 

Noon  came ;  one  o'clock,  two  o'clock. 
They  had  all  had  luncheon,  and  Pike  had 
been  scrambling  up  and  down  the  rock  like 
a  monkey,  and  still  there  was  no  forward 
movement  of  the  foe.  Every  time  he  looked 
they  were  still  lounging  or  squatting,  so  he 
judged,  about  the  stunted  trees  on  the  knoll, 
and  there  was  nothing  to  explain  the  delay. 
It  must  have  three  o'clock  when  at  last  the 
binocular  told  him  they  were  again  in  motion 
and  coming  rapidly  toward  him.  He  could 
see  the  dirty  white  breech-clouts  floating  in 
the  breeze  and  could  almost  distinguish  the 
forms  of  the  warriors  themselves.  Leaving 


98  SUNSET  PASS. 

his  glass  on  the  top  of  the  ledge  he  slid 
down  to  the  base  again,  called  quietly  to 
Jim,  and  the  two  men  set  to  work  to  build 
their  breastwork.  Bowlders  big  and  little, 
rocks  of  every  possible  shape  and  size  were 
all  around  them,  and  in  three-quarters  of 
an  hour  they  had  a  stout  parapet  fully 
four  feet  high,  whose  loopholes  commanded 
the  approach  up  the  hillside,  and  yet  were 
secure  from  fire  from  above,  below  or  either 
flank.  Then  back  he  went  to  his  watch- 
tower. 

The  instant  he  adjusted  the  glass  and  lev 
elled  it  at  the  road,  Pike  gave  vent  to  an  ex 
pletive  that  need  not  be  recorded  here,  but 
that  indicated  in  him  a  most  unusual  decree 

o 

of  excitement.  No  wonder.  The  Tontos  were 
now  in  plain  view  —  only  two  miles  and  a 
half  out  there  on  the  plain,  —  and  though 
they  were  spread  out,  as  a  rule,  to  the  right 
and  left  of  the  road,  quite  a  number  of 


THE   TWO   MEN   SET   TO   WORK   TO   BUILD   THEIR 
BREASTWORK, 


SUNSET  PASS.  99 

them  came  jogging  along  the  road  itself, 
and  right  in  the  midst  of  these,  led  by  an 
Indian  in  front  and  guarded  by  two  or  three 
in  rear  —  were  the  missing  mules.  Even  at 

o 

that  distance  Pike  could  swear  to  them.  On 
they  came,  rapidly,  relentlessly,  well  know 
ing  that  even  if  their  human  prey  had 
escaped  them  the  big  wagon  must  be  some 
where  about  the  Pass  and  loaded  still  with 
provisions.  Nearer  —  nearer  jogged  the  lead 
ers  ;  but  now  the  old  trooper  was  carefully 
studying  a  dark  object  on  the  back  of  the 
foremost  mule  —  a  pack  of  some  kind  —  and 
marvelling-  what  it  could  be,  —  wondering", 

O  '  O  ' 

too,  what  they  had  done  with  their  prisoner. 
He  was  sure  they  had  one  as  they  came 
along  that  morning.  At  last  they  were 
within  a  mile  of  the  heights  and  the  western 
entrance  to  the  Pass,  and  now  their  speed 
slackened.  They  began  opening  out  farther 
and  farther  to  the  right  and  left,  and  the 


100  SUNSET  PASS. 

nearer  they  came  to  the  foothills  the  slower 
and  steadier  became  their  advance.  The 
mules  and  their  attendants  were  kept  well  in 
the  background  and  for  the  life  of  him  Pike 
could  not  tell  what  that  queer  looking 
"pack"  could  be.  Slowly,  steadily,  the 
Tonto  skirmish  line  came  on.  Every 
moment  brought  them  nearer  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Pass.  The  sun  was  low  down  in  the 
west  and  threw  long  shadows  of  the  ap 
proaching  foe  before  them.  Little  by  little, 
crouching,  almost  crawling,  the  more  daring 
spirits  among  them  would  give  a'  spring  and 
a  rapid  run  to  the  front  of  forty  or  fifty 
yards.  Evidently  they  expected  to  be 
greeted  with  a  sharp  fire  somewhere  about 
the  Pass,  and  did  not  dare  push  ahead  in 
their  usual  order.  And  now  they  had 
reached  the  entrance  to  the  defile.  Two  or 
three,  as  flankers,  remained  well  out  to  the 
right  and  left  among  the  trees  \  two  or  three. 


SUNSET 


stole  cautiously  ahead  down  the  road.  Pike 
watched  their  every  move,  yet  found  him 
self  every  few  seconds  fixing  his  gaze  on 
that  foremost  mule  now  placidly  cropping 
the  scant  herbage  while  the  skirmish  line 
pushed  ahead.  Presently  a  signal  of  some 
kind  was  given  and  repeated.  The  Indians 
in  charge  of  the  mules  hastened  with  them 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Pass,  and  as  they  did  so, 
that  singular  pack  came  closer  under  Pike's 
powerful  glass. 

"  It's  their  prisoner,"  he  uttered.  "  They 
have  driven  and  goaded  him  until  he  fainted 
from  exhaustion.  Then  they  had  to  wait 
for  the  mules  to  be  brought  up  to  the 
hillock  —  then  lashed  the  poor  fellow  upon 
the  back  of  one  of  them  and  pushed  ahead." 
For  some  purpose  of  their  own  they  were 
keeping  him  alive,  and  death  by  fearful 
torture  was  something  to  be  looked  forward 
to  in  the  near  future.  The  corporal  con- 


SUNSET  PASS. 


tinued  to  gaze  as  though  fascinated  until 
the  leading  mule  got  almost  under  him,  and 
then  he  gave  a  groan  of  helplessness  and 
misery  as  he  exclaimed,  "  My  God  !  My 
God!  It's  Manuelito  !" 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MANUELITO'S    FATE. 

FOR  ten  minutes  Pike  remained  at  his 
post  of  observation  on  top  of  the  rock, 
watching  the  Indians  as  they  slowly  and 
cautiously  moved  down  the  Pass  in  the 
direction  of  the  abandoned  camp.  The 
children,  worn  out  with  their  play,  and  the 
fatigues  of  the  climb,  were  sleeping  soundly 
in  the  little  cave  on  the  peak,  —  Nellie,  with 
her  fair  head  pillowed  in  patient  Kate's  lap. 
Black  Jim,  too,  was  lying  where  the  sun 
shone  full  upon  him,  and  snoring  away  as 
placidly  as  earlier  in  the  morning. 

Kate,  far  back  in  the  cave,  had  no  idea 


104  SUNSET  PASS. 

what  was  going  on  in  the  Pass  below  ;  but 
her  soul  was  still  filled  with  dread  and 
anxiety.  The  old  trooper  knew  well  that 
just  as  soon  as  the  Indians  came  to  the 
wagons  and  found  them  abandoned,  their 
first  care  would  be  to  secure  all  the  plunder 
from  them  possible.  Then  they  would  prob 
ably  dispose  of  Manuelito  after  their  own 
cruel  designs  ;  and  then,  if  darkness  did  not 
come  on  in  the  meantime,  they  would  prob 
ably  begin  their  search  for  the  fugitives. 
There  would  be  no  difficulty  to  Indian 
trailers  in  following  their  track  up  the 
mountain  side ;  of  this  Pike  was  well  as 
sured.  But  the  wary  old  trooper  had  taken 
the  precaution,  every  time  that  he  and  Jim 
had  gone  to  and  from  the  camp,  to  take  a 
roundabout  path,  so  as  to  bring  their  trail 
around  the  base  of  the  mountain  in  front  of 
the  cave,  and  in  this  way  the  Indians  in 
following  would  come  directly  in  front  of 


SUNSET  PASS.  105 

their  barricade  at  the  mouth  and  from  sixty 
to  a  hundred  yards  down  the  hill  and  within 
easy  range  and  almost  sure  shot  of  the 
defenders. 

And  now,  peering  down  into  the  road  far 
below,  Pike  could  see  that  the  leading 
Indians  had  come  in  sight  of  the  big  bag 
gage  wagon  and  that  they  were  signalling 
to  those  in  the  rear,  for  almost  instantly 
three  or  four  sinewy,  athletic  young  fellows 
sprang  up  among  the  trees  and  bowlders  on 
the  north  side  of  the  Pass,  and  crouching 
like  panthers,  half  crawling,  half  springing, 
they  went  flitting  from  rock  to  rock  or  tree 
to  tree  until  lost  to  the  view  of  the  lone 
watcher  on  the  great  ledge,  but  it  was  evi 
dent  that  their  purpose  was  to  reconnoitre 
the  position  from  that  side,  as  well  as  to 
surround  the  objects  of  their  pursuit  should 
they  still  be  there.  Almost  at  the  same 
instant,  too,  an  equal  number  of  the  Tontos 


106  SUNSET  PASS. 

came  leaping  like  goats  a  short  distance  up 
the  slope  towards  Pike's  unconscious  garri 
son,  but  speedily  turned  eastward,  and, 
adopting  precisely  the  same  tactics  as  those 
of  their  comrades  across  the  road,  rapidly, 
but  with  the  utmost  stealth  and  noiselessness, 
bore  down  on  the  abandoned  nook. 

"  Mighty  lucky  we  got  out  of  that  and 
found  this,"  muttered  Pike.  "  It  won't  be 
five  minutes  before  they  satisfy  themselves 
that  there  is  no  one  left  to  defend  those 
wagons  or  the  horses  —  and  the  moment 
they  realize  it  there'll  be  a  yell  of  delight." 

Sure  enough  !  After  a  brief  interval  of 
silence,  there  came  from  below  a  shout  of 
exultation,  answered  instantly  by  triumphant 
yells  from  the  Indians  in  the  roadway,  and 
echoed  by  a  wail  of  mortal  terror  from  poor 
Kate,  crouching  below  in  the  cave.  Pike 
lost  no  time  in  sliding  down  the  rocks  and 
striving  to  comfort  her.  Nellie,  clinging  to 


NELLIE,    CLINGING   TO   HER  NURSE,  WAS   TERRIFIED   BY   THE 
SOUNDS. 


SUNSET  PASS.  107 

her  nurse,  was  terrified  by  the  sounds.  Little 
Ned,  pale,  but  with  his  boyish  face  set  and 
determined,  grasped  once  more  his  little 
Ballard  rifle,  and  looked  up  in  the  corporal's 
face  as  much  as  to  say  :  Count  on  me  for 
one  of  your  fighting  men  !  Trembling,  shiv 
ering  and  calling  on  the  blessed  saints,  poor 
Kate  stood  there  wringing  her  hands,  the 
very  personification  of  abject  fright.  Jim, 
coming  around  to  the  mouth  of  the  cave, 
spoke  sternly  to  her  ;  told  her  she  ought  to 
be  ashamed  of  herself  for  setting  so  bad  an 
example  to  little  Nell.  "  Look  at  Ned,"  he 
said,  "  see  how  the  little  man  behaves  ;  his 
father  would  be  proud  of  him."  And  then 
Pike  spoke  up.  "  Don't  worry,  don't  be  so 
afraid,  Kate  ;  they  have  got  all  they  want 
just  now.  They'll  just  plunder  and  gorge 
themselves  with  food,  and  then  they  will 
have  Manuelito  to  amuse  themselves  with. 
It  is  getting  too  late  in  the  day  for  them  to 


108  SUNSET  PASS. 

attempt  to  follow  us.  They  have  got  too 
much  to  occupy  themselves  with  anyhow. 
Don't  you  worry,  old  girl ;  if  they  do  come 
this  way,  as  they  may  to-morrow  morn 
ing,  we'll  give  them  a  dose  that  will  make 
them  wish  they  had  never  seen  a  Yankee." 

The  Indian  shouts  redoubled  ;  every  ac 
cent  was  that  of  triumph.  They  were  evi 
dently  rejoicing  over  the  rich  find  in  the 
ambulance  and  the  baggage  wagon.  Of 
course  a  great  deal  of  property  had  been  left 
there  for  which  Pike's  party  would  have  no 
possible  use  up  here  in  the  cave,  and  this 
included  plenty  of  food.  The  horses,  too, 
delighted  the  Tontos,  and,  as  Pike  said,  they 
would  doubtless  be  occupied  some  little  time 
with  the  division  of  the  spoils,  and  longer  in 
having  a  grand  feast. 

Looking  down  the  road  he  could  see  the 
two  mules  browsing  peacefully  side  by  side, 
Manuelito  still  lashed  to  the  back  of  one  of 


SUNSET  PASS.  109 

them.  Two  young1  Indians  stood  guard  over 
him  and  their  four-footed  captives ;  but  even 
these  fellows  were  by  no  means  forgotten, 
for  every  now  and  then  Pike  could  see  their 
friends  running  back  to  them  with  something 
to  eat  and,  after  exchanging  a  word  or  two, 
hurrying  again  to  the  wagons. 

After  a  while  poor  Kate,  partially  assured 
by  Pike's  words,  but  more  shamed  into 
silence  by  the  bravery  of  little  Ne*d,  sub 
sided  into  a  corner  of  the  cave,  and  there 
seated  herself,  moaning  and  weeping,  but  no 
longer  making  any  outcry.  Pike  decided 
that  it  would  be  necessary  for  him  to  go 
once  more  to  his  watch-tower,  and  as  far  as  he 
could,  watch  the  programme  of  the  Apaches 
the  rest  of  the  day.  Before  starting,  how 
ever,  he  called  up  Jim  and  gave  him  his 
instructions  :  "  You  see  that  the  sun  is 
almost  down.  The  chances  are  that  they 
will  be  so  much  interested  in  what  they 


110  SUNSET  PASS. 

have  found  that  darkness  will  settle  down 
upon  us  before  they  fairly  get  through  with 
their  jubilee0  Then,  again,  it  may  be  that 
the  bloody  hounds  will  have  some  fun  of 
their  own  with  poor  Manuelito  to-night. 
I've  no  sympathy  for  the  scoundrel,  but  I 
can't  bear  the  idea  of  one  who  has  served 
with  us  so  long  being  tortured  before  our 
very  eyes.  We  can't  help  it,  however,  there 
are  only  two  of  us  here,  and  our  first  object 
is  to  protect  these  poor  little  children,  and 
that  wretched  old  Kate  of  a  nurse  there. 
Stay  here  with  your  rifle  behind  the  barri 
cade.  I'll  whistle  if  any  Indian  attempts  to 
follow  our  trail ;  then  I'll  come  down  here 
as  quickly  as  possible.  But  keep  a  bright 
lookout  yourself.  Watch  those  trees  down 
there  to  the  front.  Note  everything  occur 
ring  along  the  road  as  far  as  you  can  see. 
There  goes  one  of  the  beggars  back  to  that 
point  now.  Even  in  the  midst  of  their  fun 


SUNSfiT  PASS.  Ill 

they  don't  neglect  precautions.  See  !  he's 
going  to  climb  up  there  on  that  little  hill 
just  where  I  was  watching  this  morning. 
Yes,  there  he  goes.  Now  you  will  see  him 
lie  down  flat  when  he  gets  to  the  top,  and 
peer  over  the  rocks  to  the  west.  What  he 
is  looking  out  for,  I  don't  know,  but  it 
may  be  that  they  expect  the  cavalry  even 
more  than  we  do.  They  possibly  have 
had  signal  fires  from  the  reservation  warn 
ing  them  that  the  cavalry  have  already 
left  the  Verde.  I  hope  and  pray  they  have. 
Now,  keep  up  your  grit,  Jim  ;  don't  let  any 
thing  phaze  you.  If  you  want  help?  or  see 
anything,  whistle,  and  I'll  come  down." 

Already  it  was  growing  darker  down  the 
gorge.  Pike  could  see  that  the  Apaches 
had  lighted  a  fire  in  the  road  close  to  the 
wagons.  Evidently  they  were  going  to 
begin  some  cooking  on  their  own  account, 
and  were  even  now  distributing  the  provi- 


112  SUNSET  PASS. 

sions  they  had  found.  Two  of  them  had 
released  Manuelito  from  the  mule,  and  the 
poor  devil  was  now  seated,  bound  and  help 
less,  on  a  rock  by  the  roadside,  looking  too 
faint  and  terrified  to  live.  The  captain's 
field  glass  revealed  a  sorry  sight  to  the  old 
soldier's  eyes  as  he  peered  down  at  the  little 
throng  of  savages  about  the  baggage  wagon, 
now  completely  gutted  of  its  contents ;  and 
though  he  despised  the  Mexican  as  a  traitor 
and  thief  and  coward,  it  was  impossible  not 
to  feel  compassion  for  him  in  his  present 
awful  plight.  There  was  something  most 
pitiable  in  the  fellow's  clasped  hands  and 
abject  despair.  He  had  lived  too  long  in 
Arizona  not  to  know  the  fate  reserved  for 
prisoners  taken  by  the  Indians,  and  he 
knew,  and  Pike  knew,  that,  their  hunger 
once  satisfied,  the  chances  were  ten  to 
one  they  would  then  turn  their  attention 
entirely  to  their  captive,  and  have  a  wild 


THE    POOR    DEVIL    WAS    NOW    SEATED,    BOUND    AND    HELP 
LESS,    ON   A    ROCK    BY    THE    ROADSIDE. 


SUNSET  PASS. 

and    furious    revel    as   they  slowly  tortured 

him  to  death. 

-i 

The  sun  had  gone  down  behind  the 
range,  far  over  to  the  west,  as  Pike  reached 
once  more  the  top  of  his  watch-tower,  and 
every  moment  the  darkness  deepened  down 
the  Pass.  Up  here  he  could  not  only  see 
the  baggage  wagon  in  the  road,  but  the  top 
of  the  ambulance,  and  two  of  the  horses 
were  also  visible,  and  occasionally  the  lithe 
forms  of  the  Tontos  scurrying  about  in  the 
firelight.  Evidently  the  old  cook  fire  in  the 
cleft  of  the  rocks  had  been  stirred  up  and 
was  now  being  utilized  by  half  the  band, 
while  the  others  toasted  the  bacon  and 
roasted  frijoles  down  in  the  road.  The  yells 
had  long  since  ceased.  Many  of  the  warriors 
were  squatting  about  the  baggage  wagon 
gnawing  at  hard  bread  or  other  unaccus 
tomed  luxuries,  but  those  at  the  ambulance 
were  chattering  like  so  many  monkeys  and 


114  SUNSET  PASS. 

keeping  up  a  hammering,  the  object  of 
which  Pike  could  not  at  first  imagine,  until 
he  suddenly  remembered  the  locked  box 
under  the  driver's  seat,  the  key  of  which 
was  always  carried  by  the  captain.  Then  a 
flash  of  hope  shot  over  him  as  he  recalled 
the  fact  that  when  they  left  their  station 
Captain  Gwynne  had  stowed  away  in  there 
three  or  four  bottles  of  whiskey  or  brandy. 
It  would  take  them  but  a  little  while,  he 
knew,  to  break  into  the  enclosure,  and  then 
there  would  be  a  bacchanalian  scene. 

"  Oh,  that  it  were  a  barrel  instead  of  a 
bottle  or  two,"  groaned  Pike.  "  As  it  is 
there's  just  enough  to  exhilarate  the  gang 
and  keep  them  singing  and  dancing  all 
night ;  but  a  barrel  !  —  that  would  stupefy 
them  one  after  another  and  Jim  and  I  could 
have  gone  down  and  murdered  the  whole 
crowd.  Not  one  of  'em  would  ever  have 
known  what  hurt  him." 


SUNSET  PASS.  115 

Ha !  a  sound  of  crashing,  splitting  wood. 
A  rush,  a  scuffle  —  then  a  yell  of  triumph 
and  delight.  Every  Indian  in  the  roadway 
sprang  to  his  feet  and  darted  off  up  the 
rocks  to  swell  the  chorus  at  the  ambulance. 
Even  Manuelito's  guard  left  his  prisoner  to 
take  care  of  himself  and  ran  like  a  deer  to 
claim  his  share  of  the  madly  craved  "  fire 
water."  A  few  years  before  and  most  of 
them  hardly  knew  its  taste,  but  some  of 
their  number  had  more  than  once  made 
"John  Barleycorn's"  acquaintance  and  had 
told  wondrous  tales  of  its  effects.  In  less 
than  a  minute,  with  the  single  exception 
of  their  sentry  on  the  hill,  every  Tonto  was 
struggling,  shouting,  laughing  and  leaping 
about  the  family  wagon,  and  Pike  knew 
from  the  sounds  that  the  captain's  little 
store  of  liquor  was  rapidly  disappearing. 
Every  moment  the  noise  waxed  louder  and 
fiercer  as  the  deep  potations  of  the  principal 


116  SUNSET  PASS. 

Indians  did  their  poisonous  work.  There 
were  shrill  altercations,  vehement  invective 
and  reproach  ;  Pike  even  hoped  for  a  min 
ute  that  there  had  been  enough  after  all  to 
start  them  fighting1  among  themselves,  but 
the  hope  was  delusive.  All  was  gloom  and 
darkness  now  in  the  Pass  except  immediately 
around  the  two  fires.  He  could  no  longer 
see  Manuelito  or  the  mules,  but  suddenly  he 
heard  a  sound  of  a  simultaneous  rush  and  an 
instant  after  with  hideous  shouts  and  yells 
the  whole  band  leaped  into  view  and  went 
tearing  down  into  the  road  and  up  to  the 
rocks  where  their  helpless  prisoner  still  sat 
bound  and  helpless  —  more  dead  than  alive 
—  and  Pike  heard  the  shriek  of  despair  with 
which  the  poor  fellow  greeted  his  now  half 
crazy  captors. 

"  My  God  !  "  groaned  the  old  soldier,  "it 
is  awful  to  have  to  lurk  here  and  make  no 
move  to  help  him.  He  would  have  cut  all 


SUNSET  PASS.  117 

our  throats  without  a  twinge  of  conscience, 
but  I  can't  see  him  tortured  nor  can  I  lift  a 
hand  to  save  him.  And  here's  Kate,  and 
those  poor  little  ones.  They  can't  help 
hearing  his  cries  and  shrieks.  What  an 
awful  night  'twill  be  for  them  !  No  use  of 
my  staying  up  here  now.  I  must  go  down 
to  them." 

Far  back  in  the  black  recesses  of  the  cave 
he  found  them.  —  Nellie  trembling1  and  sob- 

'  O 

bing  with  her  head  pillowed  in  Kate's  lap  and 
covered  with  a  shawl  so  as  to  shut  out,  if 
possible,  the  awful  sounds  from  below.  The 
Irishwoman,  too,  was  striving  to  stop  her  ears 
and  was  at  the  same  time  frantically  praying 
to  all  the  saints  in  the  calendar  for  help  in 
their  woeful  peril,  and  for  mercy  for  that 
poor  wretch  whose  mad  cries  and  impreca 
tions  rang  out  on  the  still  night  air  even 
louder  than  the  yells  of  his  captors.  Manful 
little  Ned  sat  close  by  his  sister's  side,  pat- 


118  SUNSET  PASS. 

ting  her  arm  from  time  to  time  with  one 
hand  while  lie  clung1  to  his  rifle  with  the 
other.  The  boy  did  not  shed  a  tear,  though 
his  voice  trembled  and  his  lips  quivered  as  he 
answered  Pike's  cheery  words.  Jim  knelt  at 
his  post  at  the  stone  breastwork  keeping 
vigilant  watch,  though  his  teeth  chattered 
despite  his  best  efforts,  and  his  eyes  were 
doubtless  bulging  out  of  their  sockets. 

"  You  mustn't  be  sitting  here  all  in  the 
dark,"  said  Pike.  "  Keep  up  a  little  fire, 
Ned,  my  boy.  It's  so  far  back  and  so  far  up 
the  hill  that  the  Indians  cannot  possibly  see 
the  light  it  may  make  even  were  they  to  come 
around  to  the  east  side  of  the  mountain. 
They  won't  to-night,  though.  They've  found 
papa's  stock  of  whiskey  and  brandy  and  are 
already  half  drunk.  They  '11  lie  around  there 
all  night  long  and  never  come  hunting  for  us 
until  after  sunrise  to-morrow,  if  they  do  then. 
We  '11  just  have  fun  with  these  fellows  until 


SUNSET   PASS,  119 

the  cavalry  come  from  Verde,  as  come  they 
will,  I  haven't  a  doubt,  no\i  that  papa  has 
found  that  he  was  cut  off  and  has  ridden 
back  on  the  trail  to  meet  and  hurry  the 
troops.  He  knows  well  that  you  and  Jim 
and  I  could  take  care  of  Nellie  and  stand  off 
these  beggars  until  he  could  reach  us.  Now, 
light  the  lantern  and  stow  it  in  that  niche 
yonder.  And  you,  Kate,  lie  down  and  cover 
yourself  and  the  children  with  blankets.  I'm 
going  out  where  I  can  watch  what  they're 
doing." 

So  saying,  Pike  took  his  rifle  and  the  field 
glasses  and,  after  a  word  with  Jim,  passed 
around  to  the  east  front  of  the  ledge.  It  was 
too  dark  to  enable  him  to  venture  down  the 
bowlders,  or  to  attempt  to  climb  again  to  the 
top  of  the  rock,  but  he  found  a  spot  among 
the  stunted  trees  from  which  he  could  just 
see  the  back  part  of  the  baggage  wagon  and 
the  Apaches  flitting  about  it  in  the  light  of 


120  SUNSET  PASS. 

their  fire.  Leveling  his  glasses  he  could 
make  out  that  several  of  the  Indians  were 
grouped  about  some  object  in  the  road,  and 
presently  one  or  two  came  running  to  the 
spot  with  buckets  of  water  which  they 
dashed  over  a  prostrate  form.  It  was 
Manuelito,  who  had  probably  fainted  dead 
away. 

Then,  as  the  Mexican  apparently  began  to 
recover  his  senses,  he  was  lifted  roughly  from 
the  ground  arid  borne,  moaning  and  feebly 
struggling,  towards  the  wagon.  Into  this  he 
was  tossed  head  foremost,  so  that  only  his 
feet  and  legs  were  visible  to  the  anxious 
watcher  up  the  hill.  Securely  bound,  and 
already  half  dead  from  the  tortures  inflicted 
on  him,  unable  to  move  hand  or  foot,  the 
poor  wretch  lay  there,  alternately  praying 
and  weeping.  What  the  next  move  of  the 
Apaches  would  be  was  not  long  a  matter  of 
doubt.  The  whole  band,  with  the  exception 


SUNSET  PASS.  121 

of  their  sentinels,  were  now  dancing  and 
leaping  about  their  captive,  singing  some 
devil-inspired  chant,  which  occasionally  gave 
place  to  yells  of  triumph.  Presently  the 
younger  men  began  piling  up  wood  under 
the  back  of  the  wagon  —  under  the  Mexi 
can's  manacled  feet ;  and  then  brands  and 
embers  were  thrust  underneath.  Pike  turned 
sick  with  horror  and  helplessness  at  the  sight, 
for  he  knew  instantly  what  it  meant.  The 
wagon  was  to  be  the  wretched  Manuelito' s 
funeral  pyre.  They  meant  to  burn  him  to 
death  by  inches.  Saddenly  a  bright  flame 
leaped  up  from  the  bottom  of  the  stack  of 
fuel ;  broader,  brighter,  fiercer  it  grew  until 
it  lapped  up  over  the  floor  of  the  wagon.  A 
scream  of  agony  rang  through  the  Pass, 
answered  by  jeering  laughter  and  fiendish 
yells.  The  next  minute  the  whole  band  were 
circling  round  the  wagon  in  a  wild  war- 
dance  j  their  yells,  their  savage  song,  com- 


122  SUNSET  PASS. 

pletely  drowned  the  shrieks  of  the  tortured 
man.  The  whole  wagon  was  soon  a  mass  of 
flames,  and  more  fuel  was  added.  Presently 
the  rear  axle  came  down  with  a  crash,  send 
ing  showers  of  sparks  whirling  through  the 
night  air,  and  Pike  turned  away  faint  and 
trembling. 

Another  instant,  however,  and  every 
faculty  was  on  the  alert,  every  nerve  strung 
to  its  highest  tension,  and  the  old  soldier 

O  ' 

sprang  back  to  the  cave  in   answer  to  Jim's 

call. 

i 

"  Look  !  "  whispered  the  negro.  "  Look 
down  there !  There's  some  one  moving 
among  those  rocks." 


r ;,  ';> 


i> 


CHAPTER  VII. 

PIKE'S    STRANGE    DREAM. 

KNEELING  behind  their  rocky  barrier  the 
two  men  silently  peered  into  the  darkness 
down  the  hill.  The  great  ledge  of  rock 
under  which  they  were  hiding  concealed 
from  their  view  the  burning  fires  of  the 
Indians  down  in  the  roadway  to  the  east. 
But  the  reflection  of  the  fire  could  be  plainly 
seen  on  the  rocks  and  trees  on  the  north 
side  of  the  Pass.  Here  and  there  stray 
beams  of  light  shot  through  the  firs  and 
cedars  and  stunted  oaks  that  lay  below  them 
among  the  bowlders  ;  and  somewhere  down 
among  these  little  trees,  watchful  Jim  de- 


124  SUNSET  PASS. 

clared  that  he  had  seen  something1  white 
moving  cautiously  and  stealthily  to  and  fro. 
Pike  closely  questioned  him,  Avhispering  his 
inquiries  so  as  not  to  catch  the  ears  of  Kate 
or  the  children,  but  Jim  stoutly  declared 
that  he  could  not  be  mistaken.  He  had 
marked  it  twice,  moving  from  place  to  place, 
before  he  had  quit  his  post  and  called  to  the 
corporal  to  come  and  verify  for  himself  what 
he  was  sure  he  had  seen.  For  a  few  mo 
ments  Pike  thought  that  it  might  be  the 
Apache  sentinel  who  had,  possibly,  left  his 
position  on  the  little  hill  across  the  road,  and 
was  seeking  on  his  own  account  some  clue 
to  the  whereabouts  of  the  fugitives  from 
the  camp.  Pike  had  seen  one  or  two 
Indians  running  up  the  road  to  where  the 
sentinel  was  stationed  in  order  to  give  him 

o 

some  of  the  plunder  which  they  had  taken 
from  the  wagon,  and  it  was  now  so  dark 
that  he  could  no  longer  see  objects  out  on 


SUNSET  PASS.  125 

the  plain,  and,  as  lie  could  hear  approach 
ing  horsemen  just  as  well  on  this  side  of 
the  road  as  on  that,  it  was  quite  possible 
that  this  Indian  was  the  cause  of  Jim's 
warning. 

Several  minutes  passed  without  either  of 
them  seeing  anything.  Then  suddenly  Jim's 
hand  was  placed  on  the  corporal's  arm,  and 
in  a  low,  tremulous  voice  he  whispered : 
"  Look  !  Look  !  " 

Following  with  his  eyes  the  direction 
indicated  by  Jim's  hand,  Pike  could  just  see, 
probably  two  hundred  or  two  hundred 
and  fifty  yards  away  down  the  hillside,  some 
thing  dirty  white  in  color,  very  slowly  and 
very  stealthily  creeping  from  one  bowlder  to 
another.  The  tops  and  crests  of  the  trees 
and  bowlders,  as  has  been  said,  were  tinged 
by  the  light  of  the  fires  still  burning  down 
in  the  roadway.  The  Indian  yells  were 
gradually  ceasing  as,  one  after  another. 


126  SUNSET  PASS. 

seemingly  overcome  by  the  liquor  that  they 
had  been  drinking,  they  subsided  into  silence. 
A  number  of  them,  however,  still  kept  up 
their  monotonous  dance,  varied  every  now 
and  then  by  a  yell  of  triumph ;  but  the 
uproar  and  racket  was  not  to  be  compared 
with  what  had  been  going  on  during  the 
torture  to  which  Manuelito  had  been  sub 
jected  before  they  had  mercifully,  though 
most  horribly,  put  an  end  to  his  sufferings. 

Nothing  but  the  embers  of  the  wagon  and 
the  unconsumed  iron  work,  of  course,  now 
remained  in  the  road.  Pike  judged  too  that 
the  ambulance  had  been  burned,  and  that 
nothing  remained  of  that.  But  all  thought 
as  to  what  was  going  on  among  the  Indians 
in  the  Pass  was  now  of  little  account  as 
compared  with  the  immediate  presence  of 
this  object  below  him.  Could  it  be  one  of 
the  Apaches  ?  Could  it  be  the  sentinel 
from  the  other  side  ?  Its  stealthy  movements 


SUNSET  PASS.  127 

and  the  noiseless  way  in  which  it  seemed  to 
flit  from  rock  to  rock  gave  color  to  his  sup 
position,  and  yet  it  appeared  unnatural  to 
Pike  that  any  one  of  the  Indians  should 
separate  himself  from  his  comrades  and  go 
on  a  still  hunt  in  the  dead  of  the  night  for 
traces  of  their  hated  foes. 

"  I  cannot  see  it  now/'  whispered  Jim. 
"  Where  is  he  gone  ?  " 

"  Behind  that  big  rock  that  you  see 
touched  by  the  firelight  down  yonder.  Our 
trail  is  just  about  half  way.  Look  !  There 
it  is  again  !  Nearer,  too,  by  fifty  yards.  I 
wish  he'd  get  on  top  of  one  of  those  bowl 
ders  where  the  light  would  strike  him.  Then 
we  might  make  him  out.  By  Jove  !  He's 
coming  up  the  hill.  Whatever  you  do, 
don't  fire.  I'll  tend  to  him." 

With  straining  eyes  they  watched  the 
strange,  stealthy  approach  of  the  mysterious 
object.  Every  now  and  then  it  would 


128  SUNSET  PASS. 

totally  disappear  from  sight  and  then,  a 
moment  or  two  afterwards,  could  again  be 
dimly  seen,  crouching  along  beside  some  big 
rock  or  emerging  behind  the  thick  branches 
of  some  stunted  tree.  Nearer  it  came  until 
Pike  was  sure  it  must  have  reached  the 
"  trail "  they  had  made  in  their  journeys  up 
and  down  the  hill. 

"  I  never  saw  an  Apache  that  could  move 
about  in  the  dark  as  quickly  as  that  fellow. 
Jim,  by  Jimminy,  I'll  bet  it's  no  Indian  at 
all !  " 

"  What  is  it,  then  ?  "  muttered  Jim,  whose 
teeth  would  chatter  a  little.  He  had  all  a 
darkey's  dread  of  u  spooks "  and  was  more 
afraid  of  a  possible  ghost  than  an  actual 
Tonto. 

"  That's  a  lynx  or  a  wild-cat,  man  !  They 
have  a  dingy  white  coat  to  their  backs,  in 
places  at  least,  arid  you've  only  stirred  up 
some  mighty  small  game.  See  here,  Jim, 


SUNSET  PASS.  129 

you're  getting  nervous.  I'll  have  to  call 
Ned  out  here  with  his  little  Ballard  to  take 
your  place  if  you  are  going  to  —  There  ! 
What  did  I  tell  you?" 

A  heap  of  fresh  fuel  —  probably  dry 
cedar  boughs  —  had  just  been  thrown  on 
the  coals  by  some  of  the  determined  dancers 
down  in  the  road  and  a  broad  glare  of  fire 
light  illumined  the  Pass.  Again  the  rocks 
and  trees  down  in  front  of  the  cave  were 
brilliantly  tinged,  and,  as  though  determined 
to  have  a  good  look  at  these  strange  "  goings 
on,"  there  suddenly  leaped  from  the  dark 
ness  and  appeared  in  view  upon  the  flat  top 
of  one  of  the  biggest  bowlders  a  little  four- 
footed  creature  gazing  with  glowing  eyes 
upon  the  scene  below. 

"  There's  your  Indian,  James,  my  boy," 
softly  laughed  Pike  and,  turning,  he  called 
back  into  the  cave  : 

"  Ned,  are  you  asleep  ?  " 


130  SUNSET  PASS. 

"  No,"  was  the  prompt  answer.  "  Do  you 
want  me,  Pike  ?  " 

"  Come  here  and  I'll  show  you  a  pretty 
shot  for  your  Ballard." 

Ned  was  at  his  side  in  an  instant,  bringing 
his  little  rifle  with  him,  and  the  old  soldier 
pointed  down  the  hill. 

"  That's  what  Jim  took  for  an  Apache," 
he  said. 

"  So  did  you,  Pike ;  you  needn't  try  to  make 
fun  of  me,"  was  Jim's  answer,  half  surly,  half 
glad,  because  his  fears  were  now  removed. 

"  Is  it  a  panther  ?  "  whispered  Ned.  "  Oh  ! 
—  can't  I  take  a  pop  at  him  ?  " 

"  Not  a  shot.  It  would  simply  be  telling 
those  blackguards  where  we  were  hiding  and 
spoil  all  the  fun  I  expect  to  have  in  the 
morning.  That's  no  panther  ;  they  have  a 
tawny  hide  ;  but  it's  the  biggest  catamount  or 
wild-cat  I  ever  set  eyes  on.  Now  go  back  to 
Kate,  bundle  up  in  your  blankets  and  keep 


THAT'S  WHAT  jnvi  TOOK  FOR  AN  APACHE. 


SUNSET  PASS.  131 

warm  and  go  to  sleep.  Jim  and  I  stand 
guard  to-night." 

And,  obediently,  the  boy  crept  away. 
Pike  looked  after  him  with  moistening  eyes 
—  all  his  jovial,  half-laughing  manner 
changing  in  an  instant. 

"  God  bless  the  little  man  !  He's  as  brave 
and  plucky  as  a  boy  could  be,  and  hasn't  so 
much  as  whimpered  once,"  muttered  the  ex- 
corporal  to  himself.  "  What  would  I  not  give 
to  know  where  his  father  was  this  night !  " 

Then  he  turned  to  Jim  who  had  somewhat 
sulkily  drawn  away  to  the  other  end  of  the 
little  parapet. 

"  Come  back,  Jim,  my  boy.  I  didn't 
mean  to  hurt  your  feelings,"  he  said.  "  You 
were  perfectly  right  in  keeping  such  close 
watch  on  everything  and  anything  the  least 
suspicious  and  I  was  wrong  if  I  ridiculed 
it.  Now  we  've  got  to  divide  the  night 
between  us.  You  lie  down  at  once  and  go 


132  SUNSET  PASS. 

to  sleep.     I  '11    keep  guard  till   one  or  half 
past;  then  you  relieve  me  until  daybreak." 

And  Jim,  nothing  loth,  crept  back  towards 
the  glowing  coals  and  rolled  himself  in  his 
heavy  blanket,  leaving  the  old  corporal  to  his 
solitary  reflections,  and  these  were  of  a 
character  so  gloomy,  so  full  of  anxiety  and 
dread,  that  one  only  marvels  how  he  was 
able  to  keep  up,  before  Kate  and  the  chil 
dren,  the  appearance  of  jollity  and  confr 
dence  that  had  marked  throughout  this 
trying  day  his  whole  demeanor. 

"  I  would  give  anything  to  know  where 
the  captain  is  to-night !  "  again  he  muttered 
as  his  weary  eyes  gazed  over  the  jagged  hill 
side  below  him.  The  Indian  fires  were 
waning  again  and  the  gleams  of  light  on  rock 
and  tree  were  growing  fainter  and  fainter.  - 
The  sounds  of  savage  revelry,  too,  were  more 
subdued,  though  a  hoarse,  monotonous  chant 
came  up  from  below.  As  has  been  said, 


SUNSET  PASS.  133 

Pike's  watch-tower  and  fortress  was  fully  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  south  of  the  road  and  about 
a  third  of  a  mile  from  the  abandoned  camp, 
but  in  the  absolute  silence  that  reigned  in 
every  other  quarter  the  sounds  from  the 
Apache  war-dance  in  that  clear  mountain  air 
were  almost  distinctly  audible.  The  awful 
groans  and  cries  of  Manuelito  were  still  ring 
ing  in  his  ears,  and,  to  himself,  the  old 
soldier  confessed  that  his  nerve  was  not  a 
little  tried  by  the  fearful  sights  and  sounds 
of  the  early  evening.  It  was  poor  prepara 
tion  for  the  fight  that  he  felt  morally  certain 
would  speedily  follow  the  rising  of  the 
morrow's  sun,  but  Pike  had  been  through 
too  many  an  Indian  war  and  in  too  many 
tight  places  before  to  "lose  his  grip/'  as 
he  expressed  it,  now. 

"  If  I  only  had  those  poor  little  kids  safe 
with  their  father  nothing  would  suit  rne 
better  than  to  be  here  with  four  or  five  of 


134  SUNSET  PASS. 

the  old  '  Troop  '  and  let  the  whole  of  the 
Apache  nation  try  to  rout  me  out/'  he  said 
to  himself.  "  Even  as  it  is,  I'm  bloodthirsty 
enough  now,  after  what  I've  seen  and  heard 
to-night,  to  be  impatient  for  their  attack.  By 
gad  !  we've  got  a  surprise  in  store  for  them 
if  only  Jim  don't  get  stampeded." 

Turning  to  listen  for  sounds  from  his  little 

CT 

garrison,  Pike  could  distinguish  two  that 
were  audible  and  that  prevailed  above  all  or 
any  others  :  Kate  was  tearfully  moaning  and 
praying  aloud ;  Jim  placidly  snoring. 

"  That  nigger  could  lie  down  and  go  to 
sleep,  by  thunder,  if  he  knew  the  world  was 
coming  to  an  end  in  less  than  an  hour.  I'll 
have  to  watch  here  till  nearly  dawn  and  have 
the  strongest  coffee  I  can  brew  all  ready  for 
him  or  he'll  be  going  to  sleep  on  his  post 
and  letting  those  hounds  crawl  right  upon  us. 
Coffee's  a  good  idea !  I'll  have  some  myself." 

So  saying  the  veteran  stole  back  into  the 


SUNSET  PASS.  135 

cave,  noiselessly  filled  the  battered  coffee-pot 
and  set  it  on  the  coals,  said  a  few  reassuring 
words  to  Kate  and  begged  her  to  remember 
him  in  her  prayers,  laughed  at  her  doleful 
and  despairing  reply  and  returned  to  his 
post. 

All  quiet.  Even  the  wild-cat  had  disap 
peared  and  there  was  now  no  longer  light  by 
which  he  could  have  detected  the  creature. 
Pike  almost  wished  he  hadn't  gone,  for,  as 
he  grimly  said,  the  fellow  might  have  been 
good  company  and  kept  him  from  getting 
sleepy.  Little  by  little  the  Indian  chant  was 
getting  drowsy  and  the  weird  dancers,  some 
of  the  younger  braves,  tired  of  the  sport 
when  there  were  neither  admiring  squaws  or 
approving  old  chiefs  to  look  on.  The  chiefs 
in  this  case,  of  course,  had  consumed  the 
greater  portion  of  the  whiskey  and  were  now 
sleeping  off  its  soporific  effects,  and  the 
youngsters  could  only  remain  where  they 


136  SUNSET  PASS. 

were,  keep  watch  and  ward  against  surprise, 
and  make  no  move  in  any  direction  until  their 
elders  should  be  themselves  again,  unless  the 
sudden  coming  of  enemies  should  compel 
them  to  rouse  their  leaders  from  their 
drunken  slumbers  and  skip  like  so  many 
goats  for  the  highest  parts  of  the  mountain. 

Looking  at  his  watch  as  he  sipped  his  tin 
of  coffee  Pike  noticed  that  it  was  now  eleven 
o'clock.  "  Oh,  if  I  only  knew  that  all  was 
well  writh  the  captain,"  he  muttered.  "  And 
if  I  only  knew  where  Sieber  and  the  cavalry 
were  to-night." 

Not  until  after  two  o'clock  in  the  morning 
did  the  old  soldier  decide  that  it  was  time  to 
"  turn  over  the  command  "  and  seek  a  little 
rest  himself.  He  knew  that  he  would  not  be 
half  fit  for  the  responsibilities  of  the  coming 
day  unless  he  could  get  a  few  hours'  sleep, 
and  as  Jim  had  now  been  snoring  uninter- 

o 

ruptedly  for  over  four  hours,  Pike  concluded 


SUNSET  PASS.  137 

to  call  him,  give  him  some  strong  coffee  and 
some  sharp  instructions,  and  put  him  "on 
post."  It  took  no  little  shaking  and  kicking 
to  rouse  the  boy,  but  presently  he  sat  up,  just 
as  he  had  done  at  the  ambulance,  with  the 
yawning  inquiry,  "  What's  the  matter  ?  " 

"  Nearly  half -past  two,  Jim,  and  your 
turn  for  guard.  Stir  out  here,  now.  Douse 
your  head  with  some  of  this  cold  water. 
It  will  freshen  you  up.  Then  I'll  give  you 
a  good  tin  of  coffee." 

Jim  obeyed,  and  after  stumbling  stupidly 
around  a  moment,  and  then  having  a  gourd 
or  two  of  water  dashed  over  his  face  and 
neck,  he  pronounced  himself  all  right  and 
proceeded  to  enjoy  the  coffee  handed  him. 

"  Now,  Jim,"  said  Pike,  "  the  wild-cat's 
gone,  and  no  Apaches  will  be  apt  to  prowl 
up  here  to-night,  but  I  want  you  to  keep  the 
sharpest  lookout  you  ever  did  in  all  your 
life  — not  only  over  their  movements  down 


138  SUNSET  PASS. 

in  the  road,  but  for  cavalry  coming  from 
the  west.  There's  just  no  telling  how  soon 
those  fellows  may  be  out  from  Verde,  and 
when  they  come  we  want  to  know  it.  The 
Indians  have  their  sentries  out,  so  they  evi 
dently  expect  them.  Watch  them  like  a 
hawk,  but  don't  give  any  false  alarm  or 
make  any  noise.  Let  me  sleep  until  it 
begins  to  get  light,  then  call  me.  Now, 
can  you  do  it  ?  " 

"  Of  course  I  can,  corporal,  but  where  are 
you  going  to  sleep  ?  " 

"  Right  here  by  you.  I'll  hand  your 
blankets  and  mine  out  by  the  parapet,  so 
that  if  you  want  me,  all  you  have  to  do  is 
put  out  your  hand.  If  you  are  chilly,  or 
get  so  towards  daybreak,  throw  that  saddle 
blanket  over  your  shoulders." 

For  a  long  time,  despite  fatigue  and 
watching,  Pike  could  not  get  to  sleep.  He 
lay  there  looking  up  at  the  stars  shining  in 


SUNSET  PASS.  139 

the  clear  heavens  and  thinking  how  peace 
ful,  how  far  removed  from  strife  or  battle, 
they  seemed  to  be.  Then  he  kept  an  eye  on 
Jim,  and  was  glad  to  note  that  the  darkey 
seemed  alert  and  aware  of  his  responsibili 
ties,  for  every  few  minutes  he  would  creep 
out  and  peer  around  the  shoulder  of  the 
ledge  where  he  could  get  a  better  view  of 
anything  going  on  down  in  the  road,  and, 
after  half  an  hour  of  this  sort  of  thing, 
he  reported  to  Pike  that  he  "  reckoned  the 
whole  gang  had  gone  to  sleep  down  there." 
The  old  trooper  assured  him,  however,  that 
some  must  be  on  the  alert  and  warned  him 
to  relax  in  no  way  his  vigilance,  and  then 
at  last  wearied  Nature  asserted  her  rights, 
and  the  soldier  fell  asleep. 

Four  o'clock  came,  —  five  o'clock, — and 
there  had  been  no  sound  from  below.  Then, 
far  in  the  east  the  skies  began  to  hoist 
their  colors  in  honor  of  the  coming  Day 


140  SUNSET  PASS. 

God,  and  rich  crimson  and  purple  soon 
blended  with  the  richer  gold,  and  all  around 
the  rocky  fastness  the  pale,  wan  light  of 
the  infant  morn  stole  over  rock  and  tree, 
and  still  old  Pike  slept,  but  not  the  deep, 
restful  slumber  of  three  hours  before.  He 
was  dreaming,  and  his  dreams  were  troubled, 
for  his  limbs  were  twitching ;  he  rolled 
over  and  moaned  aloud  ;  inarticulate  sounds 
escaped  from  his  lips  ;  but  still,  as  one 
laboring  with  nightmare,  he  could  not  wake 
—  could  not  shake  off  the  visions  that 
oppressed  him.  In  his  sleep  he  saw,  and 
saw  beyond  possibility  of  doubt,  that  the 
Apaches  were  hurriedly  rousing  their  com 
rades  ;  that  they  were  quickly  picking  up 
their  rifles  and  then  nimbly  speeding  up  the 
rocks ;  that  even  as  they  came  towards  him 
up  the  mountain  side  several  of  their  num 
ber  went  crouching  along  towards  the  east 
and  eagerly  watching  the  roadway  through 


SUNSET  PASS.  141 

the  Pass,  and,  following  their  fierce  eyes, 
he  could  see,  winding1  up  the  gorge,  coming 
at  a  trot,  a  troop  of  the  longed-for  cavalry 
—  coming  not  from  the  west,  as  he  had 
expected,  but  from  the  direction  of  the 
magnificent  sunrise  that  flashed  on  their 
carbines  and  tinged  the  campaign  hats 
with  crimson.  At  their  head  rode  two 
officers,  and  one,  he  knew  at  once,  must  be 
his  old  captain,  but  why  that  bandage 
about  his  head?  Why  the  rude  sling  in 
which  his  arm  was  carried  ?  Plainly  visible 
though  they  were  to  him,  the  Apaches  were 
completely  hidden  from  the  approaching 
troops.  Two  minutes'  ride  brought  the 
leaders  to  the  smouldering  ruins  of  the 
baggage  wagon,  at  sight  of  which,  and  the 
charred  and  unrecognizable  body  in  their 
midst,  his  captain  had  groaned  aloud,  then 
forced  his  "  broncho "  up  the  rocky  path 
to  where  they  had  made  their  camp,  and 


142  SUNSET  PASS. 

then,  when  he  saw  the  ruined  ambulance 
and  all  the  evidences  of  Apache  triumph,  he 
reeled  in  his  saddle  and  would  have  fallen 
headlong  had  not  two  stout  troopers  held 
him  while  their  young  lieutenant  thrust  a 
flask  of  brandy  between  the  ashen  lips ;  and 
then  in  his  wild  vision  Pike  saw  them  ride 
on  and  on  up  the  road  right  beneath  them  — 
only  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away  —  never  heed 
ing,  never  looking  for  him  and  his  precious 
charges.  He  strove  to  shout  :  he  screamed 
aloud,  yet  only  a  suffocated  groan  seemed  to 
issue  from  his  lips  ;  he  shouted  to  Jim  to 
fire  and  so  attract  their  attention,  but  there 
was  no  response ;  and  then,  in  his  agony,  he 
started  up,  wide  awake  in  an  instant,  and, 
hurling  off  his  blankets,  seized  his  rifle  and 
sprang  to  his  feet. 

Broad  daylight ;  sunbeams  dancing  through 
the  trees ;  and  there,  doubled  up  at  the 
back  of  the  parapet,  lay  that  scoundrel  Jim 


\ 


ONE  VEHEMENT  KICK  AND  CURSE  HE  GAVE  HEM. 


SUNSET  PASS.  143 

—  asleep  on  guard.  One  vehement  kick 
and  curse  he  gave  him :  then  peered  over 
the  .barrier  down  the  rocky  hillside.  God 
of  heaven  !  what  a  sight  met  his  eyes ! 
The  Apaches  were  almost  on  them. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE  CAPTAIN'S  RIDE. 

IT  is  high  time  now  that  we  should  hear 
something  of  Captain  Gwynne  himself,  and 
leave  for  the  time  our  little  garrison  in  the 
cave  at  Sunset  Pass.  Let  us  follow  the  move 
ments  of  the  father  for  whom  the  children 
were  so  anxiously  and  tearfully  praying. 

Galloping  away  on  Pike's  horse  in  close 
pursuit,  as  he  supposed,  of  Manuelito  and 
the  mules,  the  captain  had  turned  south  the 
moment  he  cleared  the  rocky  buttresses  that 
formed  the  western  gateway  to  the  Pass. 
He  had  reasoned  that  the  Mexican  would 
not  dare  go  back  along  the  road  on  which 


SUNSET  PASS.  145 

they  came,  because  in  so  doing  he  must 
infallibly  run  straight  into  the  Apaches,  who 
were  following  in  pursuit.  Knowing,  as  did 
Pike,  that  Manuelito  was  well  acquainted 
with  the  short  cut  through  the  mountains 
down  to  the  valley  of  the  Verde,  miles  to 
the  south  of  the  winding  and  roundabout 
way  on  which  they  were  compelled  to  come 
by  road;  knowing,  too,  that  this  trail  was 
far  to  the  south  of  where  they  had  seen  the 
Indians'  signal  fires,  —  Gwynne's  whole  idea 
seemed  to  be  that  Manuelito  would  take  the 
shortest  line  to  reach  that  rough  but  easily 
known  trail.  He  did  not  hesitate,  then,  a 
moment  in  turning  short  to  the  south,  and 
riding  confidently  along  to  the  western  foot 
hills,  expecting  every  moment  to  hear  the 
bray  of  the  mules  or  the  sound  of  their  hoof 
beats.  He  knew  that  the  moment  these 
creatures  heard  the  hoof  beats  of  his  own 
horse,  they  would  be  almost  sure  to  signal. 


146  SUNSET  PASS. 

Just  what  to  do  with  Manuelito  himself,  he 
had  not  yet  determined ;  but  it  was  his 
purpose  to  force  him  back  to  camp  at  the 
point  of  the  pistol,  if  necessary ;  then  to 
bind  him  to  the  wagon ;  make  him  drive,  at 
least  until  they  reached  Fort  Wingate  over 
in  New  Mexico  beyond  the  Navajo  Keser- 
vation,  and  turn  him  over  there  to  the  mil 
itary  authorities  for  such  disposition  as  they 
might  choose  to  make  of  him.  Of  course, 
he  would  have  no  further  employment  in 
Arizona,  for  his  character  was  blasted  for 
ever.  Mile  after  mile,  however,  the  captain 
rode  without  hearing  one  of  the  anticipated 
sounds,  and  the  further  he  rode  the  lighter 
it  grew.  Far  down. to  the  south,  now,  he 
could  dimly  see  objects  that  looked  like  four- 
footed  creatures,  moving  rapidly.  Unluckily, 
he  had  with  him  only  a  light,  short-ranged 
pair  of  glasses,  and  he  could  not  distinctly 
make  out  what  they  were;  but  believing 


SUNSET  PASS.  147 

that  they  could  be  nothing  but  Manuelito 
and  the  mules,  he  put  spurs  to  his  weary 
horse,  and  pushed  rapidly  in  pursuit  — 
wondering,  however,  how  it  was  that  the 
Mexican,  with  the  slow-moving  mules,  could 
have  got  so  far  to  the  front.  Five  miles 
further  he  rode  and  by  that  time  the  sun 
was  up  above  the  mountains  of  New  Mexico, 
over  to  the  east,  and  lighting  up  the  whole 
plateau  to  his  right.  By  this  time,  too,  the 
objects,  of  which  he  had  been  in  pursuit, 
had  totally  disappeared  from  his  sight,  and 
looking  around  him  he  could  see  nowhere 
sign  of  hoof  or  any  trail  that  would  indicate 
that  the  mules  had  come  that  way.  How 
ever,  as  he  might  be  anywhere  from  ten 
yards  to  ten  miles  from  the  exact  line  Man 
uelito  traveled,  this  gave  him  no  concern. 
He  decided  that  he  would  push  on  until  he 
came  upon  the  cavalry  trail  up  which  he  had 
ridden  a  year  before  on  an  expedition  with 


148  SUNSET  PASS. 

their  good  guide  Sieber  to  Chevelon  Fork. 
By  this  time,  too,  he  knew  that  he  must  be 
twelve  miles  from  camp,  and  that  in  all 
probability  the  Indians  had  left  their  position 
west  of  Snow  Lake,  and  were  already  coming 
in  pursuit.  He  dreaded  to  think  of  the 
peril  in  which  his  children  might  be ;  but 
he  had  every  confidence  in  Pike  ;  he  believed 
in  Jim's  pluck  and  fighting  qualities,  and  he 
reasoned  that  it  would  be  one  or  two  o'clock 
before  the  Indians  could  possibly  reach  the 
Pass,  and  that  he  could  easily  get  back  long 
before  that  time.  Riding,  therefore,  still 
further  to  the  south,  he  pursued  his  search 
for  an  hour  longer,  and  then  came  suddenly 
upon  a  sight  that  thrilled  his  heart  with 
hope  and  joy.  Right  before  him,  coming 
across  the  southern  edge  of  the  plateau,  and 
winding  up  the  mountains  to  the  left,  was 
an  unmistakable  cavalry  trail,  not  more  than 
a  day  or  two  old.  Evidently  some  troop 


SUNSET  PASS.  149 

was  out  from  Verde  and  had  taken  the  old 
short  cut  to  Chevelon  Fork,  expecting  by 
that  route  to  make  the  quickest  time  to  the 
Sunset  crossing  of  the  Colorado  River.  In 
all  probability  this  was  one  of  the  troops 
coming-  out  in  search  of  and  to  succor  him 
and  his  party.  Reining  his  jaded  horse  to 
the  left,  the  captain  rapidly  followed  on  the 
trail.  He  reasoned  that  the  four-footed 
creatures  that  he  took  to  be  the  mules  were 
in  all  probability  a  portion  of  the  pack-train 
of  the  troop  that  had  so  recently  passed 
along,  or  it  might  be  one  or  two  troopers 
who  had  been  making  scouts  to  the  right  or 
to  the  left  of  the  trail,  and  were  now  follow 
ing  the  main  body.  All  thought  of  pursu 
ing"  Manuelito  further  was  abandoned.  His 

o 

sole  object  was  to  overtake,  as  quickly  as 
possible,  the  little  command  of  cavalry  that 
he  knew  to  be  in  his  path,  and  then  to  guide 
them  by  the  shortest  line  back  to  Sunset 


150  SUNSET  PASS. 

Pass,  arid  to  the  defence  of  the  dear  ones 
there  awaiting  him.  If  he  had  good  luck, 
he  might  catch  them  before  they  had  gone 
many  miles.  The  trail  he  knew  would  speed 
ily  lead  him  over  into  the  valley  of  Chevelon 
Fork,  and  following  this  they  would  emerge 
on  the  east  side  of  the  mountain.  Perhaps 
it  might  be  fortunate  that  he  did  not  over 
take  them  until  they  were  east  of  the  range ; 
for  the  Apaches  would  certainly  not  expect 
the  cavalry  to  come  from  the  Colorado  side 
of  the  mountain ;  but  would  be  looking  for 
them  from  the  west,  and  the  chances,  there 
fore,  would, be  all  the  more  in  favor  of  their 
dealing  them  a  crushing  blow,  and  punish 
ing  them  as  they  deserved  for  their  assault 
on  defenseless  women  and  children. 

On,  on  he  rode,  urging  his  horse  as  rapidly 
as  it  was  possible  for  him  to  go  over  the 
rocky,  broken  trail.  Two  hours'  ride  brought 
him  no  nearer,  apparently,  to  the  comrades 


SUNSET  PASS.  151 

he  was  pursuing.  Three  hours'  ride  brought 
him  down  into  the  valley  of  Chevelon  Fork 
and  half  way  through  the  range.  It  was 
not  until  one  o'clock  that  he  found  himself 
at  such  a  point  that  he  could  look  forward 
and  see  part  of  the  country  toward  the 
Colorado  Chiquito  ;  but  not  a  vestige  of  the 
cavalry  or  pack-train  was  anywhere  in  sight, 
and  his  horse  was  now  so  weary  that  he  could 
only  answer  with  a  groan  the  touch  of  the 
spur,  and  could  not  by  any  possibility  acceler 
ate  his  speed.  Two  o'clock  came,  and  the 
anxious  father  found  himself,  he  knew  not 
how  many  miles  away  from  Sunset  Pass,  — 
away  from  the  children  so  anxiously  praying 
for  him,  and  awaiting  his  coming. 

He  was  growing  faint  from  long  fasting, 
and  the  horse  was  so  jaded  that  the  captain 
dismounted  and  was  fairly  towing  him  along 
behind  him  with  the  bridle  rein.  In  this 
way  they  had  slowly  and  painfully  climbed 


152  SUNSET  PASS. 

a  steep  and  rocky  ascent  where  the  trail 
seemed  to  make  a  short  cut  across  a  deep 
bend  of  the  stream,  and  reaching  the  sum 
mit  they  stopped  to  rest,  panting  hard  with 
fatigue.  Again  the  captain  resorted  to  his 
little  glasses  and  looked  long  and  eagerly 
over  the  broad  stretch  of  country  to  the  east, 
but  it  was  all  in  vain.  No  living  creatures 
were  in  sight. 

Directly  in  front,  the  trail  wound  down 
wards  over  an  incline  so  steep  that  it  looked 
as  though  horses  and  mules  could  never 
have  made  those  hoof  tracks,  but  that  only 
goats  could  have  gone  that  way.  The  poor 
old  bay  looked  piteously  at  his  master  as 
though  imploring  him  not  to  force  him  to 
undertake  that  steep  descent,  but  Gwynne 
could  show  no  mercy  now.  He  had  come 
too  far  to  turn  back.  His  only  hope,  if  he 
could  not  find  the  scouting  party,  was  to 
make  his  way  along  the  east  side  of  the 


SUNSET  PASS.  153 

range  back  to  the  little  camp  in  Sunset  Pass. 
He  prayed  God  to  watch  over  and  protect 
his  little  ones,  and  then,  with  almost  a  sob 
rising  to  his  throat,  he  tried  to  speak  cheer 
fully  to  poor  "  Mac  ;  "  he  patted  the  droop 
ing  head  of  his  faithful  old  servitor  and, 
calling  to  him  to  follow,  he  pressed  forward, 
and  half  sliding,  half  stepping,  he  began  the 
steep  descent.  The  poor  horse  braced  his 
fore  feet  and  stiffened  his  knees  and  came 
skating  over  the  loose  slate  after  him.  All 
went  tolerably  well  until  they  were  about 
two  hundred  feet  from  the  rushing  waters  of 
the  fork,  foaming  and  swirling  over  the  rocks 
below,  and  there,  coming  upon  a  sharp  point 
around  which  they  had  to  make  their  way, 
Gwynne  had  taken  only  three  or  four  steps 
downward  and  was  about  to  turn  and  speak 
encouragingly  again  to  "  Mac,"  when  the 
horse's  fore  feet  seemed  to  shoot  from  under 
him ;  he  rallied,  gathered  himself,  stumbled, 


154  SUNSET  PASS. 

and  then,  plunging  heavily  forward,  crashed 
down  upon  his  master,  rolled  completely 
over  him,  and  then  went  sliding  and  pawing 
desperately  to  the  edge  of  the  rocky  preci 
pice,  over  which  he  shot,  a  huge,  living  bowl 
der  and  fell  with  a  thud  upon  the  jagged 
rocks  below.  For  some  minutes  Gwynne  lay 
where  he  had  been  hurled,  stunned  and 
senseless  ;  then  he  slowly  revived,  found  that 
his  left  arm  was  severely  wrenched  and 
bruised,  and  that  the  blood  was  streaming 
from  a  long  gash  in  his  forehead.  Slowly 
and  painfully  he  made  his  way  to  the  foot 
of  the  steep,  bathed  his  head  in  the  cool 
waters  and  bound  it  up  as  well  as  he  could 
with  his  big  silk  handkerchief.  He  was 
fainter,  weaker  now,  than  he  had  been  before, 
but  never  for  an  instant  could  he  forget  the 
little  ones  at  the  Pass. 

"  Oh,  God  help  me  and  bring  me  back  tc? 
them  in  time/'  he  prayed ;  and  then2  holding 


WITH   ONE    BACKWABP   I^OOK 


ON- 


SUNSET   PASS.  155 

his  maimed  left  arm  in  his  right  hand,  and 
with  one  backward  look  up  the  canon  at  the 
now  lifeless  carcass  of  poor  "  Mac,"  he  stag 
gered  wearily  on,  following  the  trail  of  the 
cavalry. 

Late  that  evening,  just  as  darkness  was 
settling  down  over  the  valley  of  the  Colorado 
Chiquito,  the  soldiers  of  a  little  detachment, 
chatting  gleefully  around  their  bivouac  fires 
and  sipping  their  fragrant  coffee,  were 
startled  by  the  sudden  sight  of  a  man  with 
ghastly,  blood-stained  features  and  dress,  who 
reeled  blindly  into  their  midst  and  then  fell 
forward  upon  his  face,  to  all  appearances 
dead. 

Some  of  them,  believing  Indians  to  be 
upon  them,  sprang  for  their  arms ;  others 
bent  to  the  aid  of  the  stricken  man.  They 
turned  him  over  on  his  back,  brought  water 
and  bathed  the  blood  from  his  face,  and  then 
a  sergeant  cried : 


156  SUNSET  PASS. 

"  My  God  !  What  can  have  happened  ? 
It's  Captain  Gwynne  !  Here,  Murphy,  call 
the  lieutenant,  quick  !  " 

In  an  instant  the  young  officer  command 
ing  the  party  came  running  to  the  scene  and 
bent  breathlessly  over  the  senseless  form. 

"  It  is  Captain  Gwynne,"  he  said  ;  "  bring 
more  water.  Go  to  my  pack,  one  of  you, 
and  get  the  sponge  you'll  find  there.  Fetch 
me  my  flask,  too.  Which  way  did  he  come  ? 
Did  none  of  you  see  ?  " 

"  None,  sir.  The  first  we  knew  he  was 
right  over  us.  He  never  spoke  a  word,  but 
fell  like  a  log." 

And  then  the  rough-looking,  bearded, 
anxious  faces  hovered  about  the  prostrate 
man.  His  heart-beats  were  so  faint  that  the 
young  officer  was  terribly  alarmed.  No 
surgeon  was  with  the  little  party  and  he 
hardly  knew  what  to  do.  The  whiskey 
forced  down  Gwynne's  throat  seemed  power- 


SUNSET  PASS.  157 

less  to  revive  him.  Full  an  hour  he  lay 
almost  motionless,  then  little  by  little  the 
pulse  grew  firmer  and  respiration  audible. 
At  last  there  was  a  long,  deep  sigh,  but  still 
he  did  not  open  his  eyes.  Consciousness 
returned  only  very  slowly,  and  when  Mr. 
Hunter  had  called  him  by  name  time  and 
again  and  begged  him  to  speak,  he  sighed 
even  more  deeply  than  before,  the  lids 
slowly  drew  back,  and  the  almost  sightless 
eyes  looked  feebly  around.  Then,  with 
sudden  flash  of  memory,  the  poor  captain 
strove  to  rise.  "  My  babies  !  "  he  moaned  ; 
"  my  babies  !  " 

"  Where  did  you  leave  them,  captain  ? 
Tell  us.  I'll  send  for  them  instantly,"  said 
Hunter.  "  Sergeant,  saddle  up  right  off. 
This  means  something." 

More  whiskey,  a  long  draught,  and  more 
cold  water,  presently  revived  him  so  that  he 
could  speak  collectedly. 


158  SUNSET  PASS. 

"I  left  them  with  Pike  —  in  the  Pass. 
My  Mexican  ran  away  with  the  mules  — 
followed  and  found  your  trail  —  my  horse 
fell  on  me  and  then  rolled  over  a  precipice  — 
killed.  I've  come  on  foot  ever  since." 

"  Thank  God,  you're  here  safe  anyhow  ! 
Now  lie  still.  I'll  leave  a  guard  with  you 
and  we'll  go  as  fast  as  we  can  through  the 
darkness  and  find  Ned  and  Nellie." 

"  No !  no !  I  must  go.  I  will  go,  too. 
See,  I  can  stand.  Give  me  a  horse." 

And    so,    finding-    him    determined    and 

t  O 

rapidly  regaining  strength,  Hunter  made 
the  captain  eat  all  he  could  bear  to  swallow 
then,  and,  stowing  more  food  in  their  saddle 
bags,  away  went  the  gallant  little  troop 
hurrying  through  the  starlit  night  for  Sunset 
Pass  and  rescue. 

But  the  way  was  long ;  road  or  trail  there 
was  none.  Over  rugged  height,  through 
deep  ravine,  they  forced  their  way,  but  not 


MY    GOD  !     WHAT    CAN   HAVE   HAPPENED  ?    IT'S    CAPTAIN 
CrWYNXE  !  " 


SUNSET  PASS.  159 

until  all  the  sky  was  blushing  in  the  east  did 
they  come  to  the  old  Wingate  road,  and  the 
gloomy  entrance  to  the  Pass.  Up  they  rode 
at  a  steady  trot,  Gwynne  and  Hunter  lead 
ing,  and,  at  a  sudden  turn  of  the  road,  far  in 
towards  the  western  side,  their  horses  re 
coiled,  snorting  with  fear,  from  a  heap  of 
smouldering  embers,  in  the  midst  of  which 

O  * 

lay  a  fearful  something,  —  the  charred  and 
hissing  body  of  a  human  being.  Gwynne 
groaned  aloud  at  the  sight  and  then  drove 
his  horse  up  a  rocky  pathway  to  the  left, 
the  others  following.  There  lay  the  smoking 
ruins  of  an  ambulance  with  scraps  of  cloth 
ing  heaped  about  on  every  side,  and  here  the 
stricken  father's  waning  strength  left  him 
entirely.  With  one  heartbroken  cry,  "  My 
babies  —  my  little  ones.  They  are  gone  ! 
gone  !  "  he  was  only  saved  from  falling  by 
the  prompt  action  of  two  stalwart  troopers. 
In  ten  minutes,  supporting  the  fainting 


160  SUNSET  PASS. 

soldier  as  best  they  could,  the  detachment 
was  marching  rapidly  westward. 

"  Sieber  with  the  scouts  can't  be  farther 
away  than  Jarvis  Pass.  We'll  meet  him," 
said  Hunter  to  his  sergeant,  "and  trail  these 
Scoundrels  to  their  holes." 

His  words  were  true.  Before  ten  o'clock 
they  had  met,  not  only  Sieber,  but  Turner's 
troop  from  Verde,  coming  full  tilt,  and 
Gwynne  was  now  turned  over  to  the  doctor's 
care. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

THE    ATTACK. 

STARTLED  suddenly  from  his  sleep,  it 
was  indeed  a  dreadful  sight,  and  one  cal 
culated  to  shake  the  nerves  of  many  an 
old  soldier,  that  greeted  Pike's  eyes  as  he 
peered  over  the  rocky  parapet  in  front 
of  him.  One  glance  was  sufficient.  Look 
ing  down  behind  the  wall,  he  seized  Jim 
by  the  throat,  shaking  him  vigorously  and 
at  the  same  time  placing  his  other  hand 
over  his  mouth  so  that  he  might  make  no 
outcry.  "  Wake  up,  Jim  !  Wake  up  !  and 
see  what  your  faithlessness  has  brought 
upon  us  !  Look  down  the  hill  here  !  Look 


162  SUNSET  PASS. 

through  that  loophole  and  see  what  you've 
done ! " 

Terrified,  with  his  eyes  starting  from 
their  sockets,  Jim  obeyed,  and  his  black 
face  showed  in  an  instant  the  full  realization 
of  the  scene  before  him. 

"  Now,  is  your  rifle  all  ready  ?  "  whispered 
Pike.  "  Don't  rouse  those  poor  little  people 
in  there  until  we  have  to.  They  must  stay 
way  back  in  the  cave.  Now,  observe  strictly 
what  I  tell  you :  I  want  you  to  aim  at  the 
taller  of  those  two  Indians  who  are  the 
leaders.  Do  not  fire  until  I  give  the  word ; 
but  be  sure  you  hit.  Recollect  now,  you've 
got  to  fire  down  hill,  and  the  bullets  fly 
high.  Aim  below  his  waistband,  then  you'll 
probably  strike  him  either  through  the  heart 
or  the  upper  chest.  Now,  go  to  your  loop 
hole  and  stay  there.  Are  you  ready,  Jim  ?  " 

"  I'm  ready,  boss.  Just  wait  one  minute 
until  I  get  my  rifle  through  here." 


SUNSET  PASS  163 

Kneeling  beside  his  own  loophole,  Pike 
once  more  looked  down  the  hill.  Not  over 
a  hundred  yards  away  —  crouching  along, 
following  step  by  step  the  trail  that  he  and 
Jim  had  made  —  pointing  with  their  long 
bony  fingers  at  every  mark  on  the  ground 
or  upon  the  trees  —  two  lean,  keen-eyed, 
sinewy  Apaches  were  slowly  and  silently 
moving  up  the  mountain  side  in  a  direction 
that  would  take  them  diagonally  across  the 
front  of  the  hill.  Behind  them,  among  the 
trees  and  bowlders,  and  spread  out  to  the  right 
and  left,  came  others,  —  all  wary,  watchful, 
silent,  —  as  noiseless  and  as  stealthy  in  their 
movements  as  any  panther  could  possibly  be. 
Pike  could  see  that  they  were  armed  mostly 
with  rifles.  He  knew  that  very  few  of  them 
had  breech-loaders  at  that  time  ;  but  still 
that  there  were  some  among  them  which 
they  had  obtained  by  murdering  and  rob 
bing  helpless  settlers,  or  mail  messengers. 


164  SUNSET  PASS. 

With  abundant  ammunition  close  at  hand, 
with  the  advantage  of  position  and  the  fact 
that  he  meant  to  have  the  first  fire,  Pike 
calculated  that  the  moral  effect  would  be 
such  that  he  could  drive  them  back,  and 
that  they  would  not  resume  the  attack  until 
after  a  consultation  among  themselves. 
The  two  who  were  so  far  in  front  of  the 
others  were  steadily  approaching  the  little 
barricade,  only  the  top  of  which  could 
readily  be  seen  from  below  and  was  hardly 
distinguishable  from  the  general  mass  of 
rocks  and  bowlders  by  which  it  was  sur 
rounded. 

He  knew  it  could  not  be  long,  however, 
before  the  quick  eyes  of  the  Apaches  de 
tected  it,  and  that  they  would  know  at  once 
what  it  meant.  "  However,"  thought  Pike, 
"before  they  see  it  those  two  villains  in 
front  will  be  near  enough  for  us  to  have  a 
sure  shot,  and  then,  I  don't  care  how  soon 


SUNSET  PASS.  165 

they  know  we're  here.  Now,  Jim/'  he 
whispered,  "  watch  your  man  !  —  recollect 
—  you  aim  at  that  tall  fellow  on  your  own 
side,  —  I'll  take  the  little,  skinny  cuss  - 
the  one  who  is  just  turning  towards  us  now. 
They  are  not  more  than  seventy-five  yards 
away.  Aim  low  !  "  —  There  was  a  moment 
of  breathless  silence.  "Are  you  ready, 
Jim?"  whispered  Pike. 

"  Yes,  all  ready,  corporal." 

"  All    right  !  —  One     minute     now  —  get 
you  a  good  aim  !  —  Draw  your  bead  on  him  ! 
-  Wedge  your  rifle  in  the  rock,  if  neces 
sary  !      Got  it?" 

"  I  think  so,  corporal." 

"  All  right  then  !     Fire  !  " 

Bang  !  bang !  rang  out  almost  simulta 
neously  the  reports  of  two  rifles.  The 
smoke  floated  upward.  Pike  and  Jim  had 
the  good  sense  not  to  attempt  to  lift  their 
heads  or  peer  over  the  barriers,  but  to  con- 


166  SUNSET  PASS. 

tent  themselves  with  looking  through  the 
loopholes.  One  look  revealed  the  scene. 
"  The  little,  skinny  cuss,"  as  Pike  had  called 
him,  clasping  his  hands  to  his  breast,  had 
fallen  head  foremost  among  the  rocks  up 
which  he  was  climbing.  But  the  tall 
Indian,  giving  a  spring  like  that  of  a  cat, 
had  leaped  behind  a  bowlder  full  ten  feet 
away  from  him,  and  the  next  instant,  - 
bang  !  went  his  rifle,  and  a  bullet  whizzed 
overhead  and  struck,  flattening  itself  upon 
the  rocks. 

"  Oh,  you've  missed  him,  Jim,"  said  Pike, 
reproachfully.  "  Now,  look  out  for  the 
others  !  " 

The  rest  of  the  Apaches,  hearing  the 
shots,  with  the  quickness  of  thought,  had 
sprung  for  shelter  behind  the  neighboring 
trees  or  rocks.  Not  one  of  their  number,  by 
this  time,  failed  to  know  just  where  these 
shots  had  come  from  ;  arid  in  a  minute  more, 


SUNSET  PASS.  167 

from  all  over  the  hillside  below,  thick  and 
fast,  the  reports  of  the  rifles  were  ringing 
on  the  morning  air  and  the  bullets  came 
singing  about  the  stone  parapet,  some  of 
them  chipping  off  little  fragments  from  the 
top  of  the  parapet  itself,  but  most  of  them 
striking  the  great  mass  of  rocks  overhead 
and  doing  no  harm  whatever,  except  to 
spatter  little  fragments  of  lead  upon  the 
parapet  and  its  gallant  defenders. 

"  Watch  for  them  !  Keep  your  eyes 
peeled,  Jim  !  Every  time  you  see  a  head  or 
an  arm  or  a  body  coming  from  behind  a 
rock  or  tree,  let  drive  at  it  !  It  will  give 
the  idea  that  there  are  more  of  us  up  here 
than  we  really  have,  and  we've  got  all  the 
ammunition  we  can  possibly  use.  Don't 
be  afraid  !  I'll  tell  you  when  to  save  your 
cartridges.  There's  one  now  !  Watch 
him  !  "  Bang  !  went  Pike's  rifle.  It  was 
a  good  shot ;  for  they  could  see  that  the 


168  SUNSET  PASS. 

bullet  barked  the  tree  just  where  the 
Apache  was  standing- ;  but  apparently  it  did 
no  harm  to  the  Indian  himself ;  for  the 
answering  shot  of  his  rifle  was  prompt,  and 
the  bullet  whizzed  dangerously  near. 

"  That  fellow's  a  cool  hand  !  "  said  Pike. 
"  Watch  him,  Jim,  you're  a  little  further 
that  way.  He'll  be  out  again  in  a  minute. 
What's  the  reason  your  man  hasn't  fired? 
-  the  man  behind  the  rock  that  I  told  you 
to  kill?" 

"  Because  I'm  certain  that  I  hit  him," 
said  Jim,  "  and  I  reckon  by  this  time  he 
isn't  doing  any  more  shooting." 

"  Watch  carefully,  anyhow,"  was  the 
reply.  "  They'll  soon  try,  when  they  find 
there  are  very  few  of  us,  to  crawl  up  the  hill 
upon  us.  Then's  the  time  you've  got  to 
note  every  movement !  See  !  there  comes 
one  fellow  behind  that  rock  now.  He's 
crawling  on  all  fours.  Thinks  we  can't  see 


EVIDENTLY   THE    ONE    WHO    WAS    SHOT   WAS   A  MAN   OF    SOME 
PROMINENCE   AMONG  THEM  —  POSSIBLY  A  CHIEF. 


SUNSET  PASS.  169 

him.  Now  just  hold  on  until  he  comes 
around  that  little  ledge  !  —  I'll  take  him  1 
I've  got  him  !  Now  !  " 

And  again  Pike's  rifle  rang  out,  and  to 
his  intense  delight  the  Indian  sprang  to  his 
feet  —  staggered  an  instant  —  and  then  fell 
all  in  a  heap,  huddled  up  around  the  roots 
of  the  tree  which  he  was  just  striving  to 
reach.  Some  one  down  among  the  Indians 
gave  a  yell  of  dismay.  Evidently  the  one 
who  was  shot  was  a  man  of  some  prom 
inence  among  them  —  possibly  a  chief. 

"  They'll  try  and  haul  his  body  out  of 
the  way,  Jim.  Watch  for  at  least  one  or 
two  of  them  coming  up  there  !  He  may  be 
only  wounded,  and  they'll  try  to  get  him 
into  safety.  If  they  do  —  fire  at  the  first 


man  you  see  !  " 


Another  minute,  and  then  both  the  rifles 
blazed  again.  Two  daring  young  Indians 
had  made  a  rush  forward,  and  had  attempted 


170  SUNSET  PASS. 

to  seize  their  wounded  comrade  ;  but  the 
shots  of  the  rifles  whistling  close  about  their 
ears,  caused  them  to  desist,  to  throw  them 
selves  on  their  faces,  and  then  to  roll  or 
crawl  away  behind  the  adjacent  rocks. 
Evidently  they  didn't  care  to  expose  them 
selves  to  the  chance  of  further  loss.  Two 
Indians  lying  dead,  and  one  over  behind  a 
rock  possibly  wounded,  was  enough  to  dis 
courage  even  an  Apache. 

"  They'll  show  again  in  a  minute,  though, 
Jim.  Keep  watch  !  They  won't  go  away 
and  leave  those  two  bodies  there  if  they  can 
possibly  help  themselves.  Some  of  them 
will  stay.  Of  course,  they'll  have  a  consul 
tation  and  then  see  if  they  can't  get  at  us 
from  the  flank  or  from  the  rear.  They 
can't;  but  they  don't  know  it.  That'll  be 
their  next  game." 

And  so  for  the  next  five  or  ten  minutes 
the  siege  was  carried  on,  Jim  and  the  old 


SUNSET  PASS.  171 

corporal  watching  the  hillside,  but  mean 
time  there  was  consternation  back  in  the 
cave.  Poor  old  Kate  mingled  moaning 
with  prayers  and  tears ;  little  Nellie,  fright 
ened,  of  course,  as  any  child  would  be,  lay 
sobbing  with  her  head  buried  in  Kate's  lap. 
But  Ned,  brave  little  man  that  he  was,  had 
grasped  his  rifle,  the  Ballard,  of  which  so 
much  has  already  been  said,  and,  crouching 
eagerly  forward,  before  Pike  knew  it,  the 
boy  was  close  beside  him  at  the  stone  wall, 
and  had  placed  his  hand  upon  his  arm. 

"  Corporal,  let  me  come  in  here  beside 
you,  there's  room  for  another.  Do  let  me 
have  one  shot  at  them  ?  Papa  would  if  he 
were  here,  and  I  know  it !  " 

This  was  altogether  too  much  for  Kate  to 
bear.  She  dare  not  come  forward,  but 
from  the  dark  recess  in  which  she  and  Nellie 
were  hidden,  her  cries  and  prayers  broke 
forth  again  : 


172  SUNSET  PASS. 

"  For  the  love  of  all  the  saints,  corporal, 
don't  let  that  boy  stay  out  there  !  Bring 
him  back  here  to  me  !  His  father  would 
kill  me  if  anything  happened  to  him  !  Oh, 
listen  to  me,  Pike !  Send  the  boy  back 
again  !  Make  him  come  !-" 

But  so  far  from  paying  any  attention  to 
Kate's  admonition,  Pike  turned  with  kin 
dling  eyes  and  patted  the  little  fellow  on  the 
shoulder  :  "  You're  your  father's  own  boy, 
Ned,  and  you  shall  stay  here  with  me  for 
the  present  at  least,  and  if  there  should  be 
a  chance  of  a  shot  —  one  I  can  give  you 
without  exposing  you  —  I'm  going  to  let 
you  have  it.  Kneel  low  down  there,  and 
don't  lift  your  head  above  the  parapet  what 
ever  you  do  !  Stay  just  where  you  are." 

With  that  the  old  trooper,  whose  rifle 
was  still  projecting  through  the  loophole, 
again  turned  his  attention  to  the  Indians 
lurking  among  the  rocks  and  bowlders  down 


SUNSET  PASS.  173 

the  hill.  The  two  bodies  still  lay  there  — 
Jim's  rifle  covering  them  and  threatening 
any  Indians  who  might  attempt  to  drag 
them  away. 

Every  now  and  then,  a  black  head  would 
appear  from  behind  some  tree,  but  the 
instant  it  did  so  the  darkey's  rifle  would  ring 
out,  the  bullet  would  go  whistling  close 
beside  it,  the  head  would  pop  suddenly 
back,  and  Jim  as  promptly  would  re-load 
his  rifle. 

It  was  beginning  to  grow  monotonous. 
The  Indians  —  probably  because  they  knew 
they  were  only  wasting  their  scanty  ammu 
nition  —  had  ceased  firing,  and  were  evi 
dently  calling  to  one  another  and  signaling 
from  behind  the  rocks  and  trees  where  they 
had  taken  refuge.  So  long  as  they  re 
mained  down  there  in  front  Pike  had  no 
possible  concern.  His  only  fear,  as  has 
been  said,  was  that  they  should  make  a 


174  SUNSET  PASS. 

combined  rush.  If  they  were  to  have  sense 
enough  to  do  that,  and  ignore  the  proba 
bility  of  losing  three  or  four  of  their  num 
ber  in  the  attempt,  it  would  be  all  over  with 
the  little  party  in  the  cave. 

But  the  corporal  had  served  too  long 
among  the  Apaches  to  greatly  dread  any 
such  move.  They  were  already  shaken  by 
the  severity  of  their  reception  and  of  their 
losses.  He  knew  that  they  could  not  be 
aware  that  only  two  men  and  a  little  boy 
constituted  the  whole  force  of  the  defenders, 
for  they  would  have  come  with  a  rush  long 
before. 

Their  plan  now  would  doubtless  be  to 
leave  a  few  of  their  number  in  front  to  keep 
the  besieged  in  check  while  the  greater  part 
of  the  band  surrounded  the  big  ledge  and 
sought  a  means  of  getting  at  the  little  garri 
son  from  flank  or  rear. 

Wha^t  be  hoped  for  was  a  chance  pf  deal-* 


SUNSET  PASS.  175 

ing  them  one  more  blow  before  they  could 
crawl  back  out  of  range  and  presently  the 
opportunity  came.  Two  or  three  of  the 
band  who  were  farthest  to  the  rear  had 
managed  to  slip  back  some  distance  down 
the  hill  and  occasional  glimpses  could  now 
be  caught  of  them  as  they  stealthily  made 
their  way  out  towards  the  western  slope.  It 
was  not  long  before  their  dirty  white  breech- 
clouts  could  be  distinguished  as  they  slowly 
and  cautiously  came  creeping  up  hill. 

"  By  George !  Jim,"  muttered  the  old 
man  with  the  ejaculation  that  with  him 
supplied  the  place  of  trooper  profanity  — 
"  I  believe  you're  right  about  your  Indian. 
You  probably  wounded  him  and  he's  lying 
behind  that  rock  now,  and  those  fellows 
are  coming  up  to  help  him.  Don't  fire ! 
They're  too  far  away  for  a  down-hill  shot. 
Wait  till  I  tell  you.  Now,  Ned,  my  boy, 
run  back  and  comfort  Nellie  a  minute.  I 


176  SUNSET  PASS. 

don't  want  you  here  where  a  glancing  shot 
might  hit  you.  The  moment  we  get  them 
started  on  the  run,  I'll  call  you." 

Ned  looked  far  from  satisfied  with  the 
proposition,  but  the  corporal  was  the  com 
manding  officer,  and  there  was  nothing  to 
do  but  obey.  He  went  reluctantly.  "  Mind, 
corporal,  you've  promised  I  should  have  a 
shot,"  he  said,  and  Pike  nodded  assent, 
although  he  could  not  turn  from  his  loop 
hole.  Another  minute  and  the  Henry  rifle 
barked  its  loud  challenge  down  the  slope, 
and  the  old  trooper's  keen,  set  features  re 
laxed  in  a  grin. 

"  Now  they've  got  two  to  lug,"  he  mut 
tered  to  Jim.  "  Lord !  See  that  beggar 

oo 

roll  over  those  rocks  !  " 

Again  there  came  yells  and  shots  from 
down  the  hill  but  both  were  harmless. 
Cowed,  apparently,  by  the  sharp  shooting 
of  the  defenders,  the  Apaches  who  had 


SUNSET  PASS.  177 

sought  to  rescue  their  wounded  mate  con 
tinued  in  hiding  behind  the  rocks  where 
they  had  taken  shelter.  The  others,  farther 
to  the  east,  were  slipping1  back  as  fast  as 
they  could,  but  studiously  keeping  out  of 
sight  of  those  death-dealing  loopholes, 
Presently  it  was  apparent  to  the  corporal 
that  a  number  of  them  had  got  together 
far  down  the  hill  and  y^ere  holding1  excited 

o 

controversy,  probably  as  to  the  best  means 
of  getting  possession  of  their  dead  friends 
and  then,  their  living  enemies.  Pike  looked 
at  his  watch.  It  was  half  after  seven  and 
they  had  been  fighting  an  hour. 

And  now  came    a  lull.      Once    in  a  long 
while  some  one  of   the  besiegers  would  let 

o 

drive  a  bullet  at  the  loopholes,  but  Apache 
shooting  was  never  of  the  best  and  though 
the  lead  spattered  dangerously  near,  "  the 
miss,"  quoth  Pike,  "  is  as  good  as  any  num 
ber  of  miles."  On  the  other  hand,  when- 


178  SUNSET  PASS. 

ever  or  wherever  an  Indian  head,  leg  or  arm 
appeared,  it  was  instantly  saluted  by  one^ 
sometimes  two,  quick  shots,  and  there  could 
be  no  doubt  whatever  that  the  pale  faces,  as 
the  Tontos  supposed  them  all  to  be,  were 
fully  on  the  alert. 

"  Now,  Jim,  it  won't  be  long  before  they 
will  be  showing  around  on  all  sides.  Pile 
on  a  few  more  stones  above  that  loophole 
that  looks  to  the  west.  The  next  thing  you 
know  there'll  be  a  head  and  a  gun  poked 
out  from  behind  that  shoulder  of  rock 
beyond  you.  I'll  watch  my  side  and  keep  a 
look  on  down  the  hill,  too." 

And  now  the  hours  seemed  to  drag  with 
leaden  weight.  All  was  silence  around 
them,  yet  Pike  knew  that  this  made  their 
danger  only  the  more  imminent.  He  could 
nowhere  see  a  sign  of  their  late  assailants 
except  the  stiffening  bodies  down  the  hill, 
but  he  had  not  a  doubt  that  while  some 


SUNSET  PASS.  179 

watched  the  front,  most  of  them,  making 
wide  detours,  were  now  lurking  on  every 
side,  and  looking  for  a  possible  opening. 
Every  now  and  then  he  had  to  give  a  quick 
glance  over  his  shoulder  to  see  that  Jim  was 
alert  and  watchful.  It  would  not  do  to  have 
him  fall  asleep  now.  And  then  once  in  a 
while  he  listened,  God  only  knows  how 
wistfully,  for  the  sound  of  cavalry  coming 
across  the  westward  plain.  It  surely  was 
time  for  Sieber  and  the  troops  to  be  coming 
if  the  former  had  carried  out  his  intentions. 
Pike  could  see  nothing  of  the  road  towards 
Jarvis  Pass  and  only  a  glimpse  here  and 
there  of  the  plateau  itself.  The  foliage  in 
the  larger  trees  was  too  thick.  He  longed 
to  clamber  to  his  watch-tower  but  felt  well 
assured  that  one  step  outside  the  parapet 
would  make  him  a  target  for  the  Indian 
rifles.  First  as  an  experiment  he  put  his 
hat  on  a  stick  and  cautiously  raised  it 


180  SUNSET  PASS. 

above  their  barricade.  Two  bullets  instantly 
"  zipped  "  over  his  head  and  dropped  flat  as 
pancakes  from  the  rock  overhead.  The 
experiment  was  conclusive. 

At  last  the  straining  ears  of  the  watchers 
were  attracted  by  strange  sounds.  Low  calls 
in  savage  tongue  from  down  the  hill  were 
answered  on  both  sides  and  from  above. 
The  Indians  had  evidently  thoroughly 
"  reconnoitred  "  the  position,  and  had  found 
that  there  was  actually  no  place  around 
the  rock  from  which  they  could  see  and 
open  fire  on  the  besieged.  The  sun  was 
now  high  overhead.  Odd  sounds  as  of 
dragging  objects  began  to  be  heard  from 
the  top  of  the  rock,  and  this  was  kept 
up  for  fully  an  hour.  Neither  Pike  nor 
Jim  could  imagine  what  it  meant,  but 
neither  dared  for  an  instant  to  leave  his 
post. 

It   must    have    been    eleven    o'clock    and 


ALL  OF  A  SUDDEX  A  BLACK  SHADOW  RUSHED  THROUGH 
THE  AIK. 


SUNSET  PASS.  181 

after,  when,  all  of  a  sudden,  a  black  shadow 
rushed  through  the  air,  and  Pike  started 

O  ' 

almost  to  his  feet  as  a  huge  log  fell  from 
above  and  bounded  from  the  lagged  rocks 

J      OO 

in  front  of  them.  Then  came  another, 
tumbling  one  upon  the  other,  wedging  and 
jostling,  and  speedily  rising  in  a  huge  pile 
several  feet  high.  More  and  more  they  came ; 
then  smaller  ones ;  then  loose  dry  branches 
and  roots  in  quantities.  And  then,  as  the 
great  heap  grew  and  grew,  an  awful  thought 
occurred  to  the  old  trooper.  At  first  it 
seemed  as  though  the  Indians  meant  to  try 
and  form  a  "  curtain,"  sheltered  by  which 
they  could  crawl  upon  their  foes ;  but 
when  the  brushwood  came,  a  fiercer,  far 
more  dreadful  purpose  was  revealed.  "  My 
God  !  "  he  groaned,  "  they  mean  to  roast 
us  out." 


CHAPTER  X. 

LITTLE  NED'S    SHOT. 

FROM  the  babel  of  voices  that  reached 
old  Pike's  ears  every  now  and  then,  and  the 
bustle  and  noise  going  on  overhead,  he 
judged  that  there  must  be  twenty  or  thirty 
Indians  busily  engaged  in  the  work  of  heap 
ing  up  firewood  in  front  of  the  cave.  The 
mountain  side,  as  he  well  knew,  was  thickly 
strewn  with  dry  branches,  dead  limbs,  up 
rooted  trees  and  all  manner  of  combus 
tible  material,  and  the  very  warriors  who, 
when  around  their  own  "rancheria,"  would 
have  disdained  doing  a  stroke  of  work 
of  any  kind,  were  now  laboring  like  so 


SUNSET  PASS.  183 

many  beavers  to  add  to  the  great  pile 
that  was  already  almost  on  a  level  with  the 
breastwork  and  not  more  than  eight  feet 
away.  Some  of  the  logs  first  thrown  had 
rolled  off  and  scattered  down  the  slope,  but 
enough  had  remained  to  make  a  sure  foun 
dation,  and  once  this  was  accomplished  the 
rest  was  easy  work. 

Poor  Jim  looked  around  imploringly  at 
his  superior. 

"  Ain't  dey  some  way  to  stop  that,  corpo 
ral  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Don't  you  worry,  Jim,"  was  the  prompt 
reply.  "It  will  take  them  an -hour  more  at 
least  to  get  it  big  enough  and  then  'twill  do 
no  great  harm.  We  can  knock  down  our 
barricade  so  that  they  can't  use  it  and  fall 
back  into  the  cave  where  it's  dark  and  cool 
and  where  the  smoke  and  flame  can't  reach 
us.  Keep  your  eyes  on  your  corner,  man  !  " 
But  though  he  spoke  reassuringly,  the  old 


184  SUNSET  PASS. 

soldier  felt  a  world  of  anxiety.  Under  cover 
of  that  huge  heap  of  brushwood,  growing 
bigger  every  minute,  it  would  soon  be  possi 
ble  for  the  Indians  from  below  to  crawl  un 
seen  close  upon  them,  and  set  fire  to  the 
mass. 

Even  now  he  felt  certain  that  there  were 
several  of  the  more  daring  of  the  Apaches 
lurking  just  around  the  corners  which  he 
and  Jim  were  so  faithfully  guarding.  The 
negro  seemed  so  utterly  abashed  at  his  hav 
ing  been  overcome  by  sleep  during  the  hour 
before  the  dawn,  and  possibly  so  refreshed 
by  that  deep  slumber,  that  now  he  was  vigi 
lance  itself. 

Within  the  cave  old  Kate  had  seen,  of 
course,  the  falling  of  the  logs  and  brush 
wood,  and  though  she  could  not  comprehend 
their  object  it  served  to  keep  in  mind  that 
their  savage  foes  were  all  around  her  and 
her  little  charges,  and  to  add  to  her  alter- 


SUNSET  PASS.  185 

nate  prayer  and  wailing.  Unable  to  leave 
his  post.  Pike  could  only  call  sternly  to  her 
from  time  to  time  to  cry  shame  upon  her 
for  frightening  Nellie  so,  and  to  remind  her 
that  they  had  shot  five  Indians  without  get 
ting  a  scratch  themselves.  "  We  can  stand 
'em  off  for  hours  yet,  you  old  fool,"  he  said, 
"  and  the  boys  from  Verde  are  sure  to  get 
here  to-day."  And  whether  it  was  "  old " 
or  the  "fool"  in  Pike's  contemptuous  re 
mark,  that  stirred  her  resentment,  it  cer 
tainly  resulted  that  Kate  subsided  into 
suffering  and  indignant  protest.  Then  Ned's 
brave,  boyish  voice  was  heard. 

"  Corporal !  Can't  I  come  to  you  now  ? 
I'm  no  good  here  and  I'm  sick  of  the  row 
Kate  keeps  up.  You  said  you'd  let  me 
come  back." 

"  Wait  a  few  minutes,  Ned.  I  want  to  be 
sure  they  are  not  sneaking  around  these 
corners,"  was  the  reply,  followed  almost 


186  SUNSET  PASS. 

instantly  by  the  bang  of  Pike's  carbine. 
Kate  gave  a  suppressed  shriek  and  the  cor 
poral  a  shout  of  exultation.  Encouraged  by 
the  sound  of  his  voice  to  suppose  that  the 
guard  on  the  east  side  of  the  barrier  was 
neglecting  his  watch,  a  daring  young  Apache 
crawled  on  all  fours  around  the  foot  of  the 
rock  to  take  an  observation.  The  black 
head  came  in  view  even  as  Pike  was  speak 
ing  and  the  fierce  eyes  peered  cautiously  at 
the  breastwork,  but  the  corporal  never 
moved  a  muscle,  and  the  savage,  believing 
himself  unseen,  crawled  still  further  into 
view,  until  half  his  naked  body  was  in  sight 
from  the  narrow  slit  through  which  the  old 
trooper  was  gazing.  The  brown  muzzle  of 
the  cavalry  carbine  covered  the  creeping 
"  brave/'  and  the  next  instant  the  loud 
report  went  echoing  over  the  gorge  and  the 
Indian,  with  one  convulsive  spring,  fell 
back  upon  the  ground  writhing  in  the  ago- 


SUNSET  PASS.  187 

nies  of  death.  In  striving  to  drag  the  body 
of  his  comrade  back  behind  the  rock  another 
Tonto  ventured  to  show  head  and  shoulder, 
and  came  within  an  ace  of  sharing  his  fate, 
for  Pike's  next  shot  whistled  within  an  inch 
of  the  flattened  nose,  and  Apache  number 
two  dodged  back  with  wonderful  quickness, 
and  did  not  again  appear. 

This  would  tend  to  keep  them  from 
sneaking  around  that  particular  corner, 
thought  Pike,  and  he  only  wished  that  Jim 
could  have  similiar  luck  on  his  side,  but  the 
Indians  had  grown  wary.  Time  and  again 
the  veteran  glanced  down  the  hill  to  see  if 
there  was  any  sign  of  their  crawling  upon 
him  from  below,  but  that  threatening  pile 
of  brushwood  now  hid  most  of  the  slope 
from  his  weary,  anxious  eyes.  The  crisis 
could  not  be  long  in  coming. 

"  0  God  !  "  he  prayed,  "  save  these  little 
children.  Bring  us  aid." 


188  8U&8JST  PASS. 

Poor  old  Pike !  Even  as  the  whispered 
words  fell  from  his  lips  a  low,  crackling 
sound  caught  his  ear.  Louder  it  grew, 
and,  looking  suddenly  to  the  left,  he  saw 
a  thin  curl  of  smoke  rising  through  the 
branches  and  gaining  every  instant  in  volume. 
Louder,  louder  snapped  the  blazing  twigs. 
Denser,  heavier  grew  the  smoke.  Then 
tiny  darts  of  flame  came  shooting  upward 
through  the  top  of  the  pile  and  then  yells 
of  triumph  and  exultation  rang  from  the 
rock  above  and  the  hillside  below.  A  min 
ute  or  two  more,  and  while  the  Indians 
continued  to  pour  fresh  fuel  from  above, 
the  great  heap  was  a  mass  of  roaring  flame 
and  the  heat  became  intolerable.  A  pniV  of 
wind  drove  a  huge  volume  of  smoke  and 
flame  directly  into  Jim's  nook  in  the  fortifi 
cation,  and  with  a  shout  that  ho  could  hold 
on  no  longer  the  negro  dropped  back  into 
the  cave,  rubbing  IHH  blinded  eyes. 


r»o\rv  wrrn  TTTEST;:  STOXKS,  xow!" 


SUNSET  PASS.  189 

"  Come  back,  Jim  !  Quick  !  "  shouted 
Pike.  "  Down  with  these  stones,  now ! 
Kick  them  over !  —  but  watch  for  Indians 
on  your  side.  Down  with  'em  !  "  and  suit 
ing  action  to  the  word  the  old  soldier  rolled 
rock  after  rock  down  towards  the  blazing 
pyre,  until  his  side  of  the  parapet  was  almost 
demolished.  Half  blinded  by  smoke  and 
the  scorching  heat,  he  lost  sight  for  a 
moment  of  the  shoulder  of  the  ledge  on  the 
east  side.  Two  seconds  more  and  it  might 
have  been  all  over  with  him,  for  now,  rely 
ing  on  the  fierce  heat  to  drive  the  defenders 
back,  a  young  Apache  had  stepped  cau 
tiously  into  view,  caught  sight  of  the  tall  old 
soldier  pushing  and  kicking  at  the  rocks, 
and,  quick  as  a  cat,  up  leaped  the  rifle  to 
his  shoulder.  But  quicker  than  any  cat  — 
quick  as  its  own  flash  —  there  sounded  the 
sudden  crack  of  a  target  rifle,  the  Indian's 
gun  flew  up  and  was  discharged  in  mid-air, 


190  SUNSET  PASS. 

while  the  owner,  clapping  his  hand  to  his 
face,  reeled  back  out  of  sight.  The  bullet 
of  the  little  Ballard  had  taken  him  just 
under  the  eye,  and  as  Pike  turned  in  amaze 
ment  at  the  double  report,  saw  the  Apache 
fall,  and  then  turned  to  his  left  —  there 
knelt  little  Ned,  his  blue  eyes  blazing,  his 
boyish  form  quivering  with  excitement  and 
triumph.  Pike  seized  him  in  his  arms  and 
fairly  kissed  the  glowing  face.  "  God  bless 
you,  my  boy  !  but  you  are  a  little  soldier  if 
there  ever  was  one  !  "  was  his  cry.  "  Now 
all  three  of  us  must  watch  the  front.  Keep 
as  far  forward  as  you  can,  Jim.  We've  got 
to  hold  those  hounds  back  —  until  the  boys 
come  !  " 

Until  the  boys  come !  Heavens !  When 
would  that  be  ?  Here  was  the  day  nearly 
half  spent  and  no  sign  of  relief  for  the  little 
party  battling  so  bravely  for  their  lives  at 
Sunset  Pass.  Where  —  where  can  the  father 


THE   BULLET    OF    THE   LITTLE   BALLARD   HAD    TAKEN    HIM 
JUST   UNDER   THE   EYE. 


SUNSET  PASS.  191 

be?  Where  is  Al  Sieber?  Where  the 
old  comrades  from  Verde  ? 

Let  us  see  if  we  cannot  find  them,  and 
then,  with  them,  hasten  to  the  rescue. 

Far  over  near  Jarvis  Pass  poor  Captain 
Gwynne  had  been  lying  on  the  blankets  the 
men  eagerly  spread  for  him,  while  the  sur 
geon  with  Captain  Turner's  troops  listened 
eagerly  to  the  details  of  the  night's  work, 
and  at  the  same  time  ministered  to  his  ex 
hausted  patient.  Turner,  the  other  officers, 
and  their  favorite  scout  held  brief  and 
hurried  consultation.  It  was  decided  to 
push  at  once  for  Sunset  Pass  ;  to  leave  Cap 
tain  Gwynne  here  with  most  of  his  nearly 
worn-out  escort ;  to  mount  the  six  Hualpai 
trailers  they  had  with  them  on  the  six  freshest 
horses,  so  as  to  get  them  to  the  scene  of  the 
tragedy  as  soon  as  possible,  and  then  to  start 
them  afoot  to  follow  the  Apaches.  In  ten 
minutes  Captain  Turner,  with  Lieutenant 


192  SUNSET  PASS. 

Wilkins  and  forty  troopers,  was  trotting  off 
eastward  following  the  lead  of  Sieber  with 
his  swarthy  allies.  Ten  minutes  more  and 
Captain  Gwynne  had  sufficiently  revived  to 
be  made  fully  aware  of  what  was  going 
on,  and  was  on  his  feet  again  in  an  instant. 
The  surgeon  vainly  strove  to  detain  him,  but 
was  almost  rudely  repulsed. 

"  Do  you  suppose  I  can  rest  one  conscious 
minute  until  I  know  what  has  become  of 
my  babies?"  he  said.  And  climbing  pain 
fully  into  the  saddle  he  clapped  spurs  to  his 
horse  and  galloped  after  Turner's  troop. 

Finding  it  useless  to  argue,  the  doctor, 
with  his  orderly,  mounted,  too,  and  followed 
the  procession.  It  was  an  hour  before  they 
came  up  with  Turner's  rearmost  files  and 
found  burly  Lieutenant  Wilkins  giving  the 
men  orders  to  keep  well  closed  in  case  they 
had  to  increase  the  gait.  The  scouts  and 
Sieber,  far  to  the  front,  were  galloping. 


SUNSET  PASS.  193 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  asked  the  doctor. 

"  Smoke,"  panted  Wilkins.  "  The  Hual- 
pais  saw  it  up  the  mountain  south  of  the 
Pass." 

Gwynne's  haggard  face  was  dreadfid  to 
see.  The  jar  of  the  rough  gallop  had 
started  afresh  the  bleeding  in  his  head  and 
the  doctor  begged  him  to  wait  and  let  him 
dress  it  again,  but  the  only  answer  was  a 
look  of  fierce  determination,  and  renewed 
spurring  of  his  wretched  horse.  He  was 
soon  abreast  the  head  of  the  column,  but 
even  then  kept  on.  Turner  hailed  him  and 
urged  him  to  stay  with  them,  but  entreaty 
was  useless.  "I  am  going  after  Sieber," 
was  the  answer.  "  Did  you  see  the  smoke  ?  " 

"  No,  Gwynne  ;  but  Sieber  and  the  Hual- 
pais  are  sure  a  big  column  went  up  and  that 
it  means  the  Apaches  can't  be  far  away. 
We're  bound  to  get  them.  Don't  wear  your 
self  out,  old  fellow ;  stay  with  us ! "  but 


194  SUNSET  PASS. 

G wynne  pressed  on.  Far  out  to  the  front 
he  could  see  that  one  of  the  Indian  scouts 
had  halted  and  was  making  signs.  It  took 
five  minutes  hard  riding  to  reach  him. 

"What  did  you  see?  What  has 
happened  ?  "  he  gasped. 

"  Heap  fire  !  "  answered  the  Hualpai. 
"  See  ?  '  But  Gwynne's  worn  eyes  could 
only  make  out  the  great  mass  of  the  moun 
tain  with  its  dark  covering  of  stunted  trees. 
He  saw,  however,  that  the  scout  was 
eagerly  watching  his  comrades  now  so  long 
a  distance  ahead.  Presently  the  Indian 
shouted  in  excitement : 

"  Fight !  Fight  !  Heap  shoot,  there  !  " 
and  then  at  last  the  father's  almost  breaking 
heart  regained  a  gleam  of  hope  ;  a  new  light 
flashed  in  his  eyes,  new  strength  seemed  to 
leap  through  his  veins.  Even  his  poor  horse 
seemed  to  know  that  a  supreme  effort  was 
needed  and  gamely  answered  the  spur. 


SUNSET  PASS.  195 

Waving  his  hat  above  his  head  and  shouting 
back  to  Turner  "  Come  on  !  "  the  captain 
dashed  away  in  pursuit  of  Sieber.  Turner's 
men  could  hear  no  sound,  but  they  saw  the 
excitement  in  the  signal ;  saw  the  sudden 
rush  of  Gwynne's  steed,  and  nothing  more 
was  needed.  "  Gallop,"  rang  the  trumpet, 
and  with  carbines  advanced  and  every  eye 
on  the  dark  gorge,  still  three  miles  before 
them,  the  riders  of  the  beautiful  "  chestnut 
sorrel  "  troop  swept  across  the  plains. 

Meantime  the  savage  fight  was  going  on 
and  the  defense  was  sorely  pressed.  Covered 
by  the  smoke  caused  by  fresh  armfuls  of 
green  wood  hurled  upon  the  fiery  furnace  in 
front  of  the  cave,  the  vengeful  Apaches  had 
crawled  to  within  a  few  yards  of  where  the 
little  breastwork  had  stood.  Obedient  to 
Pike's  stern  orders  Kate  had  crept  to  the 
remotest  corner  of  the  recess  and  lay  there 
flat  upon  the  rock,  holding  Nellie  in  her 


196  SUNSET  PASS. 

arms.  The  corporal  had  bound  a  handker 
chief  about  his  left  arm,  for  some  of  the 
besiegers,  finding  bullets  of  no  avail,  were 
firing  Tonto  arrows  so  that  they  fell  into 
the  mouth  of  the  cave,  and  one  of  these  had 
torn  a  deep  gash  midway  between  the  elbow 
and  the  shoulder.  Another  had  struck  him 
on  the  thigh.  Jim,  too,  had  a  bloody 
scratch.  It  stung  and  hurt  and  made  him 

o 

grit  his  teeth  with  rage  and  pain.  Little 
Ned,  sorely  against  his  will,  was  screened  by 
his  father's  saddle  and  some  blankets,  but  he 
clung  to  his  Ballard  and  the  hope  of  at  least 
one  more  shot. 

And  still,  though  sorely  pressing  the  be 
sieged,  the  Indians  kept  close  under  cover. 
The  lessons  of  the  morning  had  taught  them 
that  the  pale  faces  could  shoot  fast  and 
straight.  They  had  lost  heavily  and  could 
afford  no  more  risks.  But  every  moment 
their  circle  seemed  closer  to  the  mouth  of  the 


SUNSET  PASS.  197 

cave,  and   though   direct   assault    could  not 

'  o 

now  be  made  because  of  tbeir  great  bonfire, 
the  dread  that  weighed  on  Pike  was  that 
they  should  suddenly  rush  in  from  east  and 
west.  "  In  that  event/'  said  he  to  Jim, 
"  we  must  sell  our  lives  as  dearly  as  possible. 
I'll  have  two  at  least  before  they  can  reach 


me." 


Hardly  had  he  spoken  when  bang  came  a 
shot  from  beyond  the  fire  ;  a  bullet  zipped 
past  his  head  and  flattened  on  the  rock  well 
back  in  the  cave.  Where  could  that  have 
come  from  ?  was  the  question.  A  little 
whiff  of  blue  smoke  sailing  away  on  the 
wind  from  the  fork  of  a  tall  oak  not  fifty 
feet  in  front  told  the  story.  Hidden  from 
view  of  the  besieged  by  the  drifting  smoke 
from  the  fire  a  young  warrior  had  clambered 
until  he  reached  the  crotch  and  there  had 
drawn  up  the  rifle  and  belt  tied  by  his  com 
rades  to  a  "  lariat."  Straddling  a  convenient 


198  SUNSET  PASS. 

branch  and  lashing  himself  to  the  trunk  he 
was  now  in  such  a  position  that  he  could 
peer  around  the  tree  and  aim  right  into  the 
mouth  of  the  rocky  recess,  and  only  one  leg 
was  exposed  to  the  fire  of  the  defense. 

But  that  was  one  leg  too  much.  "  Blaze 
away  at  him,  Jim,"  was  the  order.  "  We'll 
fire  alternately."  And  Jim's  bullet  knocked 
a  chip  of  bark  into  space,  but  did  no  further 
harm.  "  It's  my  turn  now.  Watch  your 
side." 

But  before  Pike  could  take  aim  there 
came  a  shot  from  the  fork  of  the  tree  that 
well  nigh  robbed  the  little  garrison  of  its 
brave  leader.  The  corporal  was  just  creep 
ing  forward  to  where  he  could  rest  his  rifle 
on  a  little  rock,  and  the  Indian's  bullet 
struck  fairly  in  the  shoulder,  tore  its  way 
down  along  the  muscles  of  the  back,  glanced 
upward  from  the  shoulder  blade,  and,  flatten 
ing  on  the  rock  overhead,  fell  almost  before 


SUNSET  PASS.  199 

Ned's  eyes.  The  shock  knocked  the  old 
soldier  flat  on  his  face,  and  there  came  a  yell 
of  savage  triumph  from  the  tree,  answered 
by  yells  from  below  and  above.  Ned,  terror 
stricken,  sprang  to  the  old  soldier's  side, 
just  as  he  was  struggling  to  rise. 

"  Back !  boy,  back !  They'll  all  be  on 
us  now.  My  God !  Here  they  come ! 
Now,  Jim,  fight  for  all  you're  worth." 

Bang  !  bang  !  went  the  two  rifles.  Bang  1 
bang  1  bang !  came  the  shots  from  both 
sides  and  from  the  front,  while  the  dusky 
forms  could  be  seen  creeping  up  the  rocks 
east  and  west  of  the  fire,  yelling  like  fiends. 
Crack  !  went  Ned's  little  Ballard  again,  and 
Pike  seized  the  boy  and  fairly  thrust  him 
into  the  depths  of  the  cave.  A  lithe,  naked 
form  leaped  into  sight  just  at  the  entrance 
and  then  went  crashing  down  into  the  blaz 
ing  embers  below.  Another  Indian  gone. 
Bang !  bang !  bang !  Heavier  came  the 


200  SUNSET  PASS. 

uproar  of  the  shots  below.  Bang !  bang  ! 
"Good  God!"  groaned  Pike.  "Has  the 
whole  Apache  nation  come  to  reinforce 
them  ?  Yell,  you  hounds  —  aye  —  yell ! 
There  are  only  two  of  us ! "  Shots  came 
ringing  thick  and  fast.  Yells  resounded 
along  the  mountain  side,  but  they  seemed 
more  of  warning  than  of  hatred  and  defiance. 
Bang  !  bang  !  bang  !  the  rifles  rattled  up  the 
rocky  slopes,  but  where  could  the  bullets  go  ? 
Not  one  had  struck  in  the  cave  for  fully  ten 
seconds,  yet  the  rattle  and  roar  of  musketry 
seemed  redoubled.  What  can  it  mean  ? 
Pike  creeps  still  further  forward  to  get  a 
shot  at  the  first  Indian  that  shows  himself, 
but  pain  and  weakness  are  dimming  the  sight 
of  his  keen,  brave  eyes ;  perhaps  telling  on 
his  hearing.  Listen,  man  !  Listen  !  Those 
are  not  Indian  yells  now  resounding  down 
the  rocks.  Listen,  Pike,  old  friend,  old 
soldier,  old  hero  !  Too  late  —  too  late  ! 


SUNSET  PASS.  201 

Just  as  a  ringing  trumpet  call,  "  Cease  firing," 
comes  thrilling  up  the  steep,  and  little  Ned 
once  more  leaps  forward  to  aid  him,  the 
veteran  falls  upon  his  face  and  all  is  dark 
ness. 

Another  moment,  and  now  the  very  hill 
side  seems  to  burst  into  shouts  and  cheers,  — 
joy,  triumph,  infinite  relief.  Victory 
shines  on  face  after  face  as  the  bronzed 
troopers  come  crowding  to  the  mouth  of  the 
cave.  Tenderly  they  raise  Pike  from  the 
ground  and  bear  him  out  into  the  sunshine. 
Kespectfully  they  make  way  for  Captain 
Turner  as  he  springs  into  their  midst  and 
clasps  little  Nellie  in  his  arms ;  and  poor  old 
Kate,  laughing,  weeping  and  showering  bless 
ings  on  "  the  boys,"  is  frantically  shaking 
hands  with  man  after  man.  So,  too,  is 
Black  Jim.  And  then,  half  carried,  half  led, 
by  two  stalwart  soldiers,  Captain  Gwynne 
is  borne,  trembling  like  an  aspen,  into  their 


202  SUNSET  PASS. 

midst,  and,  kneeling  on  the  rocky  floor, 
clasps  his  little  ones  to  his  breast,  and  the 
strong  man  sobs  aloud  his  thanks  to  God  for 
their  wonderful  preservation. 

******* 

"  Papa  —  papa,  I  shot  an  Indian  !  "  How 
many  a  time  little  Ned  has  to  shout  it,  in  his 
eager  young  voice,  before  the  father  can 
realize  what  is  being  said. 

"  It's  the  truth  he's  telling,  sir,"  said  a  big 
sergeant.  "  There's  wan  of  'em  lies  at  the 
corner  there  with  a  hole  no  bigger  than  a 
pay  under  the  right  eye,"  and  the  captain 
knows  not  what  to  say.  The  surgeon's 
stimulants  have  restored  Pike  to  conscious 
ness,  and  Gwynne  kneels  again  to  take  the 
old  soldier's  hands  in  his.  Dry  eyes  are  few. 
Hearts  are  all  too  full  for  many  words. 
After  infinite  peril  and  suffering,  after  most 
gallant  defense,  after  a  night  of  terror  and 
a  day  of  fiercest  battle,  the  little  party  was 


SUNSET  PASS. 

rescued,  one  and  all,  to  life  and  love  and 
such  a  welcome  when  at  last  they  were 
brought  back  to  Verde,  where  Pike  was 
nursed  back  to  strength  and  health,  where 
Nellie  was  caressed  as  a  heroine,  and  where 
little  Ned  was  petted  and  well  nigh  spoiled 
as  "  the  boy  that  shot  an  Indian  "  -  and  if 
he  did  brag  about  it  occasionally,  when  he 
came  east  to  school,  who  can  blame  him  ? 
But  when  they  came  they  did  not  this  time 
try  the  route  of  Sunset  Pass. 


THE    END. 


mrc 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

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